POLITICS: Rapper Nicki Minaj strongly supports persecuted Christians in Nigeria in speech at UN – USSA News

Rapper Nicki Minaj spoke at an event Nov. 18 hosted by the U.S. Mission to the United Nations  and highlighted what she called “the deadly threat” facing Christians in Nigeria, echoing recent statements by President Donald Trump about religious persecution in the West African nation.

Speaking on a panel alongside U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz and several faith leaders, Minaj thanked Trump for his leadership on the issue. The event followed her public response earlier this month to a social media post by the president where he asserted Christianity faces an “existential threat” in Nigeria.

In light of the concerns for Christians there, the President stated in early November that he directed the Pentagon to prepare for potential military action in the country. 

Waltz, introducing Minaj, said she appeared “not as a celebrity but as a witness” to amplify concerns about Nigeria’s persecuted church to her large social media following.

Minaj opened her remarks describing her gratitude for the ability to worship freely in the U.S. and said that in her travels as a musician she had seen how music could bridge differences in culture and belief.

“Religious freedom means we all can sing our faith regardless of who we are, where we live, and what we believe,” she said.

Minaj, who was born in Trinidad and raised in New York, told the audience she hoped to draw attention to attacks on Christian communities. 

“No group should ever be persecuted for practicing their religion, like I recently stated on social media, and we don’t have to share the same beliefs in order for us to respect each other,” she said. 

She later said, “In Nigeria, Christians are being targeted, driven from their homes, and killed. Churches have been burned, families have been torn apart, and entire communities live in fear constantly simply because of how they pray.”

However, this is also an issue in many other countries, “and it demands urgent action,” she continued. Minaj stressed not to view the issue through a partisan or sectarian lens. 

“Protecting Christians in Nigeria is not about taking sides or dividing people,” she said. “ It is about standing up in the face of injustice.”

Her speech came shortly after Pope Leo XIV, in a social-media post on Nov. 16, said Christians face discrimination and persecution in several nations, including Nigeria, Bangladesh, Mozambique, and Sudan.

“When one’s church, mosque, or place of worship is destroyed, everyone’s heart should break just a little bit, and the foundation of the United Nations, with its core mandate to ensure peace and security, should shake,” Minaj said. “I am joined here today by peace builders, by faith leaders, by those who saw violence, saw rising intolerance, saw the threats clearly before us, and chose not to look the other way. I am inspired by their work to build interfaith ties, to see the humanity across the lines which might divide us, and to fight for security and liberty for all those who pray.”

She closed by thanking her fans, the “Barbz,” and reaffirmed her intention to speak out against religious persecution broadly.

She said, 

“I will care if anyone, anywhere, is being persecuted for their beliefs.”