Nigeria hires US lobbyists DCI Group to nurture Trump ties, communicate Christian protection efforts

Nigeria’s government has hired a U.S. lobbying firm to nurture ties with the Trump administration and counter what it says is misinformation from Christian Evangelical groups and others that minimises its efforts to protect the country’s Christians.

U.S. President Donald Trump redesignated Nigeria “a country of particular concern” in November, promising military action if it failed to crack down on the killing of Christians. The U.S. then launched an airstrike in Nigeria on Christmas Day that Trump said targeted Islamist militants.

The Nigerian government has said it is working hard to tackle Islamists and other violent groups, which have attacked both Muslim and Christian civilians, and denies there is any systematic persecution of Christians.

It hired Washington-based consulting firm DCI Group for an initial six months for $4.5 million, with a similar amount due for a subsequent six months, according to a December 18 filing with the U.S. Department of Justice posted on the DOJ website.

Nigeria’s presidency did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A DCI spokesperson confirmed the filing, which appeared in Nigerian media on Wednesday.

“We are pleased to support the Nigerian government in communicating its ongoing and expanding efforts to protect Christians and people of all faiths from radical jihadist groups and other destabilizing elements, and in building trade and commercial ties which benefit both of our countries,” the spokesperson said in an emailed response.

On its website, DCI describes itself as “seasoned political operatives, communication strategists” and “experts at re-framing external narratives, and in delivering the right message to the right audience.”

Nigeria faces a long-running Islamist insurgency in the northeast, armed kidnapping gangs in the northwest and clashes between largely Muslim cattle herders and mainly Christian farmers in a volatile area stretching across the middle of the West African nation.

Trump said the Christmas Day attack killed multiple Islamic State militants, who he said had been targeting Christians. And in an interview with the New York Times published last week, he raised the prospect of more strikes.

In a sign of cooperation between Washington and Abuja, the U.S. military’s Africa Command said on Tuesday that it had delivered critical military supplies to Nigeria to bolster its operations. Reuters