Human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has called on President Bola Tinubu to be wary of United States President Donald Trump over statements or actions that could promote religious conflict in Nigeria.

Mr Falana said Nigeria is a sovereign nation with a complex religious and ethnic composition, warning that Mr Trump’s utterances could worsen insecurity and deepen existing divisions.

“Let the Nigerian government be warned not to allow U.S. President Donald Trump to promote religious war in Nigeria. Trump is saying his intervention is to protect Christians.

“The criminals killing Nigerians do not care about religion. Those collecting ransom after kidnapping Nigerians do not worry about religion.

“Therefore, the war against terror in Nigeria must be carried out without any attempt to divide our people along religious or ethnic lines,” he told journalists at his country home in Ilawe-Ekiti on Saturday.

Last year, Mr Trump designated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern over alleged Christian genocide, adding, “Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter.”

“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a ‘Country of Particular Concern’,” the U.S. president declared.

On Christmas day, Mr Trump announced that the U.S. military carried out a series of air strikes against terrorist targets in Sokoto, Nigeria, marking America’s first kinetic action in the West African country.

However, Mr Falana warned that Mr Trump’s comments on religious freedom and Nigeria’s security challenges could inflame tensions in the already fragile country.

He advised Mr Tinubu to make it clear, firmly but diplomatically, to the United States government that Nigeria does not require external narratives that could encourage religious intolerance or justify intervention under false pretences.

“You cannot end insecurity in a country without addressing social insecurity. If young people are unemployed and unemployment keeps rising, some will be driven into criminality. It is often said that the devil finds work for idle hands,” Mr Falana said.

He added, “So while the government is under pressure to fund and equip the armed forces and the Nigerian Police Force, sufficient attention must also be paid to youth unemployment.”

The senior lawyer stressed that Nigeria’s security challenges are largely criminal in nature and must not be framed as a religious conflict.

Mr Falana warned that such misrepresentation could embolden extremist groups and undermine national unity.

He, however, called on the federal government to focus on tackling insecurity, poverty, and governance failures rather than allowing external actors to shape the global narrative about Nigeria’s internal affairs.