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Cruz Blasts Nigeria Over ‘Christian Massacre’ Claims Amid Fierce Denials
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz accused Nigeria’s government of enabling mass killings of Christians, prompting sharp denials from Nigerian officials who insist the country’s violence stems from ethnic and criminal conflicts, not religious persecution.
United States Senator Ted Cruz has accused Nigeria’s government of enabling a “massacre” against Christians. Citing what he described as a growing number of deadly attacks targeting the Christian community in the country’s central regions.
In an X post on Tuesday, Cruz claimed that 50,000 Christians have been killed since 2009 and that 2,000 schools and 18,000 churches have been destroyed by “Islamist” armed groups. He did not provide sources for the figures. The Republican senator, who draws strong support from evangelical Christians, has introduced a bill seeking sanctions on Nigerian officials whom he accused of “ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians.”
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Nigeria’s government has rejected the claims, acknowledged a worsening security situation but denied that Christians are being specifically targeted. The Christian Association of Nigeria also stated that the violence affects people of multiple faiths and warned that foreign voices were exploiting the country’s domestic crises.
Cruz, in his post, accused Nigerian leaders of “Christian massacres,” saying, “It is the result of decisions made by specific people, in specific places, at specific times. And it says a great deal about who is lashing out now that a light is being shone on these issues. The United States knows who those people are, and I intend to hold them accountable.”
In September, Cruz introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, which seeks to sanction officials who “facilitate Islamic Jihadist violence and the imposition of blasphemy laws.” The proposed legislation also aims to designate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” and label Boko Haram and its splinter group, ISIL’s West Africa Province (ISWAP), as “entities of particular concern.” The U.S. first designated Boko Haram as a foreign terrorist organization in 2013.
Republican Congressman Riley Moore echoed Cruz’s claims in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday, urging Nigeria’s inclusion as a country of particular concern “due to the alarming and ongoing persecution of Christians.” Moore alleged that 7,000 Christians have been killed this year by groups such as Boko Haram, calling Nigeria “the deadliest place in the world to be a Christian.”
Television host Bill Maher also weighed in last week on his show *Real Time with Bill Maher*, claiming that Boko Haram was committing a “Christian genocide” ignored by the world. “They’ve killed over 100,000 since 2009. They’ve burned 18,000 churches. They are literally attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country,” he said, though without providing sources.
Nigeria continues to face widespread insecurity, including Boko Haram’s insurgency in the northeast, violent criminal gangs in the northwest, and communal clashes in central states. Since President Bola Tinubu took office in May 2023, over 10,000 people have been killed, and millions displaced.
In Nigeria’s Middle Belt, predominantly Christian farming communities face frequent nighttime raids, village burnings, kidnappings, and mass displacements, often blamed on Fulani herders from the largely Muslim pastoralist group. While the government refers to the violence as a “local farmer-herdsmen crisis,” farming communities describe it as “ethnic cleansing.”
In June, Fulani herders reportedly attacked the Tiv community of Yelwata in Benue State, killing more than 100 people. Tiv leader James Ortese Iorzua Ayatse described the attacks as a “well-planned genocidal invasion.” In May, Amnesty International reported nearly 10,000 deaths since 2023 in Benue and Plateau states, with extensive destruction of infrastructure and mass displacement.
While Cruz and others in the U.S. political right appear to link these attacks to religion, analysts note that much of the violence stems from ethnic and resource-based disputes. Attacks in Nigeria’s northeast, led by Boko Haram and ISWAP, have targeted both Christians and Muslims alike.
Nigeria’s Information Minister Mohammed Idris Malagi criticized Cruz and Maher’s comments as “a gross misrepresentation of reality.” He said, “Portraying Nigeria’s security challenges as a targeted campaign against a single religious group is inaccurate and harmful. It oversimplifies a complex, multifaceted security environment and plays into the hands of terrorists who seek to divide Nigerians along religious or ethnic lines.”
Gimba Kakanda, special assistant to Nigeria’s vice president, wrote in *Al Jazeera* that “Nigeria’s conflicts are multifaceted, driven by ethnic rivalries, land disputes and criminality, with religion often secondary.” He said Western narratives are influenced by political agendas and Nigeria’s recent pro-Palestinian stance at the United Nations.
Cruz’s bill also references Nigeria’s Islamic blasphemy laws in 12 Muslim-majority states where Sharia law is constitutionally permitted. These laws apply primarily to Muslims, but enforcement has sometimes extended beyond. Blasphemy remains a capital offense in some interpretations, though sentences are rare.
In 2022, atheist Mubarak Bala was sentenced to 24 years in prison in Kano State for alleged blasphemy on Facebook, sparking national outrage. That same year, Christian student Deborah Yakubu was killed by classmates in Sokoto for alleged blasphemy, prompting widespread condemnation.
Nigeria continues to grapple with overlapping crises religious extremism, banditry, and ethnic conflict that analysts say have merged into a complex security web overwhelming state capacity.
Editor’s Note:
The debate over violence in Nigeria continues to draw global attention, with U.S. lawmakers and media figures framing it as religious persecution, while Nigerian officials and analysts stress the complex interplay of ethnic, economic, and security factors driving the crisis. Readers are urged to view the issue through a multifaceted lens, considering the overlapping roots of insurgency, banditry, and communal conflict shaping Nigeria’s security landscape.
