'Christians are being persecuted': US Congress leaders call on Trump to protect Christians in Nigeria

Amid rising reports of violence against Christians in Nigeria , US Congressman Riley Moore , the Republican representative for the state of West Virginia, called for urgent diplomatic action in response to reported violence against Christians in Nigeria.action in a post on X (formerly Twitter) accompanied by a clip of his Fox Business interview, where he claimed ongoing persecution and called for Nigeria to be restored as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) to address what he described as killings and attacks on churches.

Riley Moore’s X post and Fox Business interview

On October 20, 2025, Congressman Moore posted on X

“Christians are being persecuted and killed in Nigeria for professing their faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The killings must stop. That’s why I’m urging @SecRubio to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern. We must use every diplomatic tool to end this horrific slaughter of our brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Christians are being persecuted and killed in Nigeria for professing their faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The killings must stop.

That’s why I’m urging @SecRubio to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern. We must use every diplomatic tool to end this… pic.twitter.com/UTGXlXzFuk

— Rep. Riley M. Moore (@RepRileyMoore) October 20, 2025

The X post was accompanied by a clip of Moore’s appearance on the Fox Business show with Stuart Varney , where he elaborated on the points made in his post. In the interview, Moore described Nigeria as the deadliest place in the world for Christians, citing thousands of deaths and hundreds more kidnapped, tortured, or displaced by extremist groups such as Boko Haram and its splinter faction, ISWAP. He stressed that restoring Nigeria’s designation as a Country of Particular Concern would give the United States the diplomatic tools necessary to pressure the Nigerian government to take decisive action against these attacks.


Riley Moore’s letter to Secretary Rubio and the case for CPC designation

On October 5, 2025, Congressman Riley Moore sent a formal letter to Secretary Rubio requesting that Nigeria be redesignated as a CPC under the International Religious Freedom Act. According to Moore’s press release dated October 6, the appeal is grounded in the “alarming and ongoing persecution of Christians across the country.”

Moore’s letter highlighted that over 7,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria in 2025 alone, averaging 35 deaths per day. He emphasized that hundreds more have been kidnapped, tortured, or displaced by extremist groups such as Boko Haram and its splinter faction, ISWAP. Moore referenced Open Doors reports, noting that more Christians are killed in Nigeria each year than in the rest of the world combined, and stated that 19,100 Christian churches have been attacked or destroyed since 2009.

He also called attention to prior US policy: Nigeria had been designated a CPC under President Trump, but this designation was removed during the Biden administration. Moore urged the Trump administration to restore the designation and suspend all US arms sales and technical support to Nigeria until effective measures are taken to protect the persecuted population.

In his statement, Moore said:

“Nigeria has become the deadliest place in the world to be a Christian. Just this year, a priest was kidnapped and murdered on Ash Wednesday and 54 Christians were martyred on Palm Sunday. 7,000 Christians have been martyred this year alone. More than 50,000 Christians have been murdered since 2009.

The United States cannot stand idly by while believers are slaughtered. We must acknowledge the religious nature of this scourge of anti-Christian violence from radical Islamic terrorists. It’s time for the United States to defend our brothers and sisters in Christ, and designating Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern will provide the diplomatic levers to do just that. I urge Secretary Rubio to designate Nigeria as a CPC without delay.”


US political voices echoing concerns

Among US political figures raising alarms about the situation, Senator Ted Cruz , a member of the Republican Party representing the state of Texas, has been particularly vocal in highlighting reported violence against Christians in Nigeria. In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), Cruz claimed that 50,000 Christians have been killed since 2009, with 2,000 schools and 18,000 churches destroyed by Islamist armed groups, though he did not cite his sources.

In September, Cruz introduced what he called the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, which, he said, aims to hold officials who “facilitate Islamic Jihadist violence and the imposition of blasphemy laws” accountable. The bill’s main objectives, according to Cruz, include:

• Holding Nigerian officials accountable for facilitating violence against Christians.
  
• Designating Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC).
  
• Classifying Boko Haram and its splinter faction, the ISIL (ISIS) affiliate in West Africa Province (ISWAP), as “entities of particular concern.”
  
• Targeting officials who enforce Islamic and blasphemy laws that contribute to persecution.
  
  

Cruz emphasized that the killings are the result of decisions made by specific officials at specific times, reflecting systemic failures in protecting civilians. It is worth noting that the US designated Boko Haram as a “foreign terrorist organisation” in 2013.

Other public commentators have amplified similar concerns. HBO host Bill Maher, on Real Time With Bill Maher, referenced Boko Haram’s attacks, claiming over 100,000 Christians killed since 2009 and 18,000 churches burned, though he acknowledged he is not a Christian. Maher stated:

“I’m not a Christian, but they are systematically killing the Christians in Nigeria. They’ve killed over 100,000 since 2009. They’ve burned 18,000 churches. … They [Boko Haram] are literally attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country.”

Nigeria’s security context and government response

While acknowledging the complexity and the ongoing security challenges, Nigerian authorities have cautioned against portraying the violence as targeting a single religious group.According to Al Jazeera, Nigeria’s Information Minister, Mohammed Idris Malagi , issued a statement in response to Bill Maher’s comments, describing recent US commentary as “overly simplistic” and warning against framing the violence as targeting only Christians. He said:

“Portraying Nigeria’s security challenges as a targeted campaign against a single religious group is a gross misrepresentation of reality. While Nigeria, like many countries, has faced security challenges, including acts of terrorism perpetrated by criminals, couching the situation as a deliberate, systematic attack on Christians is inaccurate and harmful. It oversimplifies a complex, multifaceted security environment and plays into the hands of terrorists and criminals who seek to divide Nigerians along religious or ethnic lines.”

Key factors contributing to Nigeria’s ongoing security challenges include the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast, as well as activities by criminal gangs and communal violence in central and northwest states. Since President Bola Tinubu took office in May 2023, over 3 million people have been displaced, and Amnesty International reports that nearly 10,000 people, including children, have been killed, particularly in Benue and Plateau states. The Christian Association of Nigeria has also noted that some foreign reporting may oversimplify the situation, portraying the violence as exclusively anti-Christian, while the reality reflects a multifaceted and complex security environment.

Human impact and international attention

The human toll of Nigeria’s security crisis is severe. Attacks in areas such as Yelwata, Benue State, have forced families to flee after gunmen massacres, while extremists routinely destroy infrastructure, including schools, clinics, grain reserves, places of worship, and boreholes, worsening humanitarian conditions. Analysts have noted that bandits are increasingly cooperating with ideological armed groups seeking to expand their territory, making the crises more fluid and overlapping.

Nigeria’s security apparatus is reportedly overwhelmed and struggles to gather adequate intelligence to understand the extent of these collaborations and respond effectively. US lawmakers argue that designating Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern could provide diplomatic leverage to encourage accountability and protection for affected communities, raising broader questions about the role of US foreign policy in addressing human rights and religious freedom violations.