Recent attempts by United States President Donald Trump and his supporters to frame the insecurity purely as the persecution of Christians overlooks the complexity of Africa’s most-populous nation.

There are more than 250 ethnic groups in Nigeria, which is roughly divided into a mainly Muslim north, a largely Christian south, with intermingling in the middle,  and the government says people of all faiths have been victims of attacks.

There are criminal gangs in the north-west, an Islamist insurgency in the north-east, clashes over land in central regions and separatist unrest in the south-east  leaving the 400 000-strong army and the police force of 370 000 officers overstretched.

–SABC–