US Christian leaders press Trump as New York Post editorial asks him to call out the deadly persecution
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
**********************************
“Government forces do battle Boko Haram and other Islamist terror groups that brutally terrorize Christians and non-Christians in Northern Nigeria, but they simply stand by as militant Fulani Muslim herdsmen assault their Christian neighbours in the nation’s Middle Belt.
“Since 2009, the persecution has seen a reported 18,000 churches destroyed, 50,000 Christians murdered and 5 million more displaced.
“Per the International Religious Freedom Act, the US President must designate any nation that engages in or tolerates ‘particularly severe violations of religious freedom’ as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’; Trump so listed Nigeria in his first term.
“But in 2021, the Joe Biden State Department reversed that finding, claiming the violence wasn’t about religious persecution but the impact of climate change.
“Senator Ted Cruz (Republican, Texas) and Rep. Chris Smith (Republican, New Jersey) have a bill to require the administration to make the CPC designation, and to sanction Nigerian officials who facilitate or permit jihadist attacks against Christians and other religious minorities – but Team Trump should act on its own” – Ogebe, human rights lawyer
**********************************
A group of prominent Christian leaders in the United States has appealed to President Donald Trump to again call out the persecution of Christians in Northern Nigeria where over 7,000 were reportedly massacred in the first seven months of 2025 alone.
The appeal coincides with a New York Post editorial urging Trump to flag the deadly persecution and re-instate Nigeria on the list of Country of Particular Concern (CPC) on religious grounds.
Emmanuel Ogebe, a Nigerian-American human rights lawyer living in Washington, an activist who regularly highlights the atrocities, recounts that:
“Government forces do battle Boko Haram and other Islamist terror groups that brutally terrorize Christians and non-Christians in Northern Nigeria, but they simply stand by as militant Fulani Muslim herdsmen assault their Christian neighbours in the nation’s Middle Belt.
“Since 2009, the persecution has seen a reported 18,000 churches destroyed, 50,000 Christians murdered and 5 million more displaced.
“Per the International Religious Freedom Act, the US President must designate any nation that engages in or tolerates ‘particularly severe violations of religious freedom’ as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’; Trump so listed Nigeria in his first term.
“But in 2021, the Joe Biden State Department reversed that finding, claiming the violence wasn’t about religious persecution but the impact of climate change.
“Senator Ted Cruz (Republican, Texas) and Rep. Chris Smith (Republican, New Jersey) have a bill to require the administration to make the CPC designation, and to sanction Nigerian officials who facilitate or permit jihadist attacks against Christians and other religious minorities – but Team Trump should act on its own.
“It’s not Washington’s job to right all the world’s wrongs, but Uncle Sam can at least condemn these ongoing atrocities.”
Read also:
