Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), popularly known as Shiites, today November 8, took to the streets of Kano to protest against United States President Donald Trump’s recent statement threatening to invade Nigeria to take out terrorists.

Members of the group marched across major roads in Kano city, carried posters and banners rejecting Trump’s claim that Christians were being targeted in a genocide in Nigeria. Some of the demonstrators were seen dragging the American flag on the ground, while others displayed effigies of the US president.

Meanwhile,Trump had recently designated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern,” claiming that there was ongoing persecution of Christians by terrorist groups and warning that if the Nigerian government failed to act, he would deploy U.S. troops to stop the killings. He also directed the U.S. Department of War to prepare a possible military action plan.

The IMN dismissed Trump’s comments as false and provocative. The sect group described the US leader’s claims as “inflammatory and dangerous,” accusing western nations of using propaganda to create religious division in Nigeria.

They claimed that their group has always stood for unity and peaceful coexistence, stressing that Nigeria’s challenges were driven by corruption and political greed, not religion.