Nigeria, the most populous nation on the African continent, has been home to the targeting and murdering of Christians on a scale not seen anywhere else in the world. The Nigerian organization Intersociety estimates that since 2009, 52,000 Christians have been murdered and more than 20,000 churches have been attacked and burned by various Islamist extremist groups, including Fulani herders, Boko Haram, and other Islamic State and al Qaeda-linked terror groups.

The letter, led by Nina Shea of the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom and joined by Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, Focus on the Family President Jim Daly, former Congressman Frank Wolf, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, and dozens of other leaders observed that the Nigerian government "is directly violating religious freedom by enforcing Islamic blasphemy laws that carry the death penalty and harsh prison sentences against citizens of various religions. It also demonstrably tolerates relentless aggression uniquely against Christian farming families by militant Fulani Muslim herders, who appear intent on forcibly Islamizing the Middle Belt."

The letter goes on to note that Fulani herders are the "biggest threat facing Nigeria's Christians. ... With cries of 'Allahu Akbar' and wielding AK-47s, they invade peaceful Christian farming areas in Nigeria's central region, massacring families, burning homes and harvests, and driving millions of Christians from their ancestral lands." Last month, it was reported that the group is also kidnapping dozens of Christians and holding them in at least 11 hostage camps "in the vast forest south of Kaduna." If the hostages' families cannot provide a ransom payment, the victims are executed. (Screengrab image: via X-Wall Street Apes)

The genocidal pattern of the killings has increased dramatically this year compared to previous years. In August, it was reported that over 7,000 Christians had been killed, more than doubling the total from 2024 with four months still remaining. In a single predawn attack in June against a farming village populated by Nigerian civilians who had previously been displaced by attacks, at least 200 men, women, children, and elderly were indiscriminately slaughtered after a building where many of them were sleeping was set on fire; those who tried to escape were gunned down or hacked to death with machetes. One eyewitness recounted that bodies were "burned beyond recognition: infants, children, mothers, and fathers just wiped out."

Shortly before leaving office in 2020, the Trump administration designated Nigeria a CPC, which allows for a variety of economic sanctions to be imposed on the country in order to pressure Nigeria's government to implement the rule of law and protect Christians and other religious minorities from violence. But the following year, the Biden administration rescinded the designation, notably just a day before then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Nigerian state leaders. Now, an ecumenical coalition of 35 Christian leaders are encouraging President Trump to reinstate the designation to hold the Nigerian government accountable. (Screengrab image: via X-Wall Street Apes)

Jacqueline Halbig von Schleppenbach, CEO and principal consultant at Sovereign Global Solutions who helped to coordinate the coalition letter, told The Washington Stand that the timing of the letter is critical as the Trump administration mulls how to tackle the violence against Nigerian Christians.

"We understand that the decision for whether or not to designate Nigeria CPC status is currently being deliberated and that a decision is imminent," she explained. "We were planning on doing something like this anyway, but then we found out that the Nigerian government is pulling out all the stops in their public affairs campaign to influence our government not to grant CPC status to Nigeria."

Halbig von Schleppenbach went on to emphasize how useful a CPC designation can be toward convincing governments to change course.

"A CPC designation carries with it a good bit of weight," she underscored. "It embarrasses the government, and it's not something they want. The CPC designation has leverage and weight, something that is lacking in pure diplomatic conversations. There is a genocide going on. We have more than enough proof of this. We have daily reports from the ground. We see what's happening. We know it's always militant Fulani and other Islamists that are slaughtering these people. And they say it's not happening. We feel like unless there is some sort of leverage which calls them to account and requires them to clean up their act, it won't happen. And in the meantime, a genocide is happening." Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.

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