From WNYC Studios. I'm Brian Lehrer. This is my daily politics podcast. It's Wednesday, November 26th.

We're going to talk about the nation of Nigeria now. Maybe you know, maybe you're connected to Nigeria from Nigeria,

roots in Nigeria, but if you're not, you may not know that Nigeria is in the news facing a

surge of violence and a security situation that analysts say has been deteriorating for years.

There have been mass kidnappings at schools

recently and deadly attacks in rural communities. But here in the U.S., there is a U.S. element to this.

The violence has been pulled into a very different conversation. President Trump and some of his

allies are describing these incidents as part of an organized Islamist

campaign targeting Christians, and the president has even threatened U.S. military action

in response.

Now, we should say Nigerian officials and many experts who watch the region closely say

that picture is incomplete at best.

Extremist groups have killed Christians, but also Muslims in Nigeria, and some of the

deadliest attacks grow out of land disputes, resource conflicts, and a security system

stretched far beyond its capacity for like 15 years. At the same time, armed bandit gangs have become one of the biggest threats in the country,

hidden communities of many faiths.

And in the middle of all, those families are still searching for more than 250 children.

This is what's in the news as the immediate hook.

More than 250 children, still missing missing taken from a Catholic boarding school

just last week.

So joining us now is NPR, international correspondent, Emmanuel Akunwatu, to help us untangle

what's really driving the violence, also, excuse me, how it's framed in Washington and why the reality is far more

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