Nigerian widow testifies at U.S. Congress on ‘Christian genocide‘
By Ishaya Ibrahim
A Nigerian widow who lost five children to marauding terrorists at Yelewata in Benue State has appeared before the U.S. Congress to testify on genocide against Christians.
Assisted by a priest who translated her testimony from Tiv into English, the widow narrated how her home was set ablaze and her husband and children were killed in an attack that claimed over 200 lives.
Other lawmakers spoke during the hearing, held by the United States House Subcommittee on Africa, regarding President Donald Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern.”
Rep. Riley Moore lamented how a pastor in Plateau State had warned that terrorists were mobilising to attacknhos community, but the Nigerian military dismissed the alert as a false alarm. He said that the following day, 13 persons were murdered in the same community.
Congressman Moore stated it would be difficult to trust the government to protect Christians given such experiences.
Oge Onubogu, a Senior Fellow at the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, noted in her presentation that the insecurity in Nigeria is complex, driven by a mix of farmer-herder conflicts, religious tensions, and criminality.
