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US Senate Committee Chair Decries 'Killings Of Christians' In Nigeria, Across Africa As ISIS Beheads 30 In Mozambique
October 10, 2025
NEWS

In a statement condemning the growing wave of religious persecution across Africa, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), has decried the continued killing of Christians by Islamist extremists, particularly in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Mozambique.

In a post on his verified X (formerly Twitter) account on Thursday, Senator Risch said, "Faith should never be a death sentence. Yet across parts of Africa, Christians are hunted, butchered, and terrorized for their beliefs while the world looks away.

"In countries like Nigeria, DR Congo, and Mozambique, they are targeted by terrorists, exploited by elites to settle political and ethnic scores, and abandoned or betrayed by their own governments. This is not just a tragedy. It is a disgrace. Action is long overdue."

Senator Risch was responding to a report by The Evangelical Voice For Today, which stated that ISIS-linked militants had beheaded over 30 Christians in northern Mozambique in recent weeks, destroyed at least seven churches, and displaced more than 50,000 residents from Chiure District.

The militants, operating under the Islamic State Mozambique Province (ISMP), released 20 graphic photographs showing the beheadings, shootings, and arsons carried out during their latest assaults.

The recent attacks occurred across the Cabo Delgado and Nampula provinces, areas in northern Mozambique where Christians are a religious minority within predominantly Muslim communities.

Witnesses and reports indicate that ISMP forces targeted Christian civilians, setting fire to churches in Nacocha, Nacussa, Minhanha, and Nakioto villages, and destroying more than 100 homes in Nakioto alone.

According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), ISMP claimed responsibility for a string of killings in late September, including the beheading of two Christians in Chiure-Velho village on September 25, the shooting of another Christian the following day, and the killing of four more believers in Macomia Town on September 28.

Another Christian was reportedly beheaded in Macomia District on September 29.

ISMP has been active in six districts of Mozambique, primarily in Cabo Delgado, where the group continues to push southward despite counterinsurgency efforts.

To curb the insurgency, Mozambique renewed a military alliance with neighboring Rwanda on August 27, under a Status of Forces Agreement that allows the Rwandan Defense Forces to continue joint operations in Cabo Delgado.

Rwanda first deployed troops to Mozambique in 2021 to help fight Islamist militants after years of bloodshed and displacement.

Since 2017, ISMP attacks have claimed more than 6,000 lives and displaced over one million people across northern Mozambique.

The group, which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS), seeks to establish a strict Islamic caliphate in the region and has explicitly called for the killing of Christians as part of its extremist campaign titled “Kill Them Wherever You Find Them.”

Open Doors International, a global Christian watchdog organization, reports that Mozambique now ranks as the 37th most difficult country in the world to be a Christian, rising from 39th place in 2024.

According to Open Doors’ World Watch List 2025, more than 100 churches and Christian buildings in Mozambique were attacked or shut down in the past year, compared to only 10 in the previous year.

The group notes that Christian youth leaders and converts from Islam are particularly vulnerable to violence, forced marriages, and social ostracization.

Many converts reportedly lose inheritance rights or custody of their children after renouncing Islam.

Senator Risch’s comments echoed growing concerns in Washington over the worsening religious violence in Africa, particularly in Nigeria.

Several U.S. Senators, led by Ted Cruz, have accused Nigerian officials of enabling or ignoring targeted violence against Christians, prompting diplomatic tensions and strong rebuttals from Nigeria’s government and legislature.

Cruz introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, which seeks to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act.

It also seeks to impose targeted sanctions on Nigerian officials accused of facilitating violence against Christians or enforcing blasphemy laws.

Cruz claimed that over 52,000 Christians have been murdered since 2009, and 20,000 churches destroyed.

In its 2023 International Religious Freedom Report, the U.S. State Department documented extensive attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria by armed groups, including Fulani militants and Boko Haram, noting that thousands of Christians have been killed or displaced in the past decade.

The report accused Nigerian authorities of failing to prevent or prosecute perpetrators of religiously motivated violence.

SaharaReporters

Davidson1010:
With America eye focused on Nigeria, 2027 election will be so interesting. The drug lord need to go. He has no solution to Nigeria problem, rather, to enrich is drug cartel and ethnicity.
That outside, we Christians need to speak up. Let us tell the world how christians are been killed daily in Nigeria

Prosperous111:
You sound like a young kid. You have no idea what this is all about, trust me nobody can fix this insecurity, not tinubu, not Peter obi, not atiku, terrorism in Nigeria is way more bigger than what people think. The system can't fight against itself, we have terrorists sponsors in our Senate, house of reps and every government sits. They're being fed with military intels, they're well equipped, they're highly connected, they operates based on instructions and at times they're unreachable because some elements in the military give them a tips. I don't think any president can fight terrorism in Nigeria without investigating and arresting their sponsors, arrest and killed their sponsors openly for treasons and watch how those bandits will surrender in just few months of intensive fights against them.


Just my two cents, make anybody no call for my head oh 😂

Davidson1010:
I don't normally reply quote, but I did just for clarity sake. Pls, never refers to people u meet online as kid(s).
Now, why was he (Tinubu) elected for? To travel around the world, or to grand pardon to his cartel members or to enrich his ethnicity or to loot or make life unbearable for Nigerians. Why can't he fight or persecute those sponsoring Boko Haram?

American Fact-Finder Declares Attacks On Christians In Nigeria’s North And Middle Belt Are ‘Calculated Genocide’
October 16, 2025
NEWS

An American fact-finder and former mayor of Blanco, Texas, Mike Arnold, has stated that Nigeria is witnessing a “calculated, long-running genocide” against its Christian population, particularly across the country’s North and Middle Belt regions.

Arnold made the assertion in a detailed statement presented to journalists, international observers, and human rights organisations in Abuja, where he shared findings from at least five years of field research across Nigeria’s conflict zones.

According to him, evidence gathered from hundreds of interviews, eyewitness accounts, and over 80 hours of filmed testimony proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the killings, mass displacement, and destruction of Christian communities are systematic and deliberate, meeting the international legal definition of genocide.

“This is serious. It’s not something to play word games with,” Arnold said. “We’ve travelled to Bokkos, Jos, Gwoza, Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Makoko over the past six years,” he said.

“I’ve interviewed governors, cabinet ministers, traditional rulers, and two former presidents. I’ve met orphans whose parents were hacked to death. I’ve helped them. I’ve built schools in IDP camps. My findings carry the weight of direct personal experience.”

Arnold, who oversees humanitarian projects in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, said official figures on displacement in Nigeria grossly understate the accurate scale of the crisis.

He estimated that more than four million Nigerians are currently displaced, which he described as “a very conservative estimate”, with most being Christians forced from their ancestral homes by extremist violence.

“The quoted figures of three to four million IDPs are clearly low. I’ve heard numbers as high as nine million. I’ve been to hidden camps that the Nigerian government and even the UN deny exist,” he said.

Arnold’s research, conducted with his international team since 2019, reportedly uncovered consistent patterns of targeted destruction, churches razed, Christian homes burned, and lands seized, while mosques in the same communities were left untouched.

He cited Gwoza Local Government Area in Borno State as one of several communities now resembling a “post-apocalyptic wasteland” following years of relentless attacks by Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters.

Arnold accused sections of the Nigerian media of deliberately sanitising the scale of atrocities by referring to the crisis as mere “farmer-herder clashes,” a term he described as “cynical doublespeak.”

“Now villages are systematically razed, churches leveled, and tens of thousands are dead. This is a systematic terror and not grazing conflicts. A lie akin to calling Bosnia's ethnic cleansing a neighborhood spat,” he said.

“These targeted deadly attacks are the same whether labeled herders, bandits, or insurgents. The puppets may change, but the same forces pull the strings. A jihadi by any other name is just as deadly.

“Mincing words over labels appears to be intentional obfuscation. Honest people can repeat things that are not true. Again, not indicting anybody, but in many of these instances, if you're told it's a farmer herder clash, I would compel you to dig deeper.”

He explained that while global attention often focuses on Boko Haram and ISWAP, the majority of killings and displacements across the Middle Belt are, in fact, carried out by radical Islamist Fulani militias.

He said, “Numerous field reports, satellite imagery, survival testimonies confirm that these militant groups, often operating under political protection and mislabeled as herders, are responsible for the most widespread systematic and sustained attacks on Christian farming communities.

“Their campaigns extend well beyond traditional grazing disputes, encompassing organized massacres, forced displacement, and the strategic occupation of conquered lands.

“Today, these militias represent the single most lethal terrorist threat in Nigeria's internal stability, surpassing Boko Haram and ISWAP combined and reach frequency and civilian death toll. The crime of obfuscation.

“I've personally seen ongoing efforts by officials and their loyal media to bury the truth, sanitizing massacres as conflict, labeling displaced survivors vagrants and criminals, refusing to name perpetrators.

“This is not confusion; it is complicity. To play semantic games while people die is beyond obscene. There can be no solution while leaders play word games to hide the truth.”

Arnold said his findings are grounded in the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948), which defines genocide as acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.

“It includes killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm, inflicting conditions intended to bring about physical destruction, preventing births within the group, and forcibly transferring children to another group,” he noted.

“The evidence is undeniable; targeted killings, mass displacement, destruction of homes and churches, denial of aid, and erasure of Christian identity.”

Summarising his conclusions, Arnold said his findings are the result of five years of investigation, field interviews, documentation, and consultation with top scholars, statesmen, and legal experts.

“I declare this without any shadow of a doubt. The campaign of violence and displacement in northern and middle belt Nigeria does indeed constitute a calculated current and long-running genocide against Christian communities and other religious minorities without any reasonable doubt,” he said.

To continue to deny this is to be complicit with these atrocities.”

“I say this not in anger, but in truth and grief. My assignment from my hosts was to speak the truth, and I have done so to the best of my ability. I believe Nigeria has a bright future,” he added.

“I believe in Christian Muslim harmony. I believe good people of every tribe and faith and party must stand against this evil, but first we must name it. Here I stand.”

[url= https://saharareporters.com/2025/10/16/american-fact-finder-declares-attacks-christians-nigerias-north-and-middle-belt-are][color=orange]SaharaReporters[/color][/url]

Prosperous111:
Truth be told, I still don't understand the outcry about Christian being killed or persecuted, Nigeria is fighting terrorism, terrorism sponsored by our government but they have no power or control over them anymore.

Muslims get killed daily, Christians get killed occasionally, even traditionalist is not excluded, this is not about one religion if we're being honest.

Davidson1010:
I don't normally reply quote, but I did just for clarity sake. Pls, never refers to people u meet online as kid(s).
Now, why was he (Tinubu) elected for? To travel around the world, or to grand pardon to his cartel members or to enrich his ethnicity or to loot or make life unbearable for Nigerians. Why can't he fight or persecute those sponsoring Boko Haram?

South African Journalist Condemns Al Jazeera Article, Says ‘Christian Genocide’ In Nigeria Driven By Islamist Ideology
October 20, 2025
NEWS

The article, written by Gimba Kakanda, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Research and Analytics, was titled “No, Bill Maher, there is no ‘Christian genocide’ in Nigeria.”

South African-born investigative journalist and former CBS News correspondent, Lara Logan, has publicly criticised Qatar-based global news network Al Jazeera for what she called a deliberate misrepresentation of the ongoing Christian genocide in Nigeria, accusing the network of downplaying ideological extremism and blaming climate change instead.

Logan made the remarks in a post on X (formerly Twitter) while reacting to an opinion article published by Al Jazeera on October 2, 2025.

The article, written by Gimba Kakanda, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Research and Analytics, was titled “No, Bill Maher, there is no ‘Christian genocide’ in Nigeria.”

In the piece, Kakanda dismissed claims of systematic killings of Christians as “foreign propaganda” and said such narratives “ignore the complexities” of Nigeria’s internal conflicts.

He wrote that “Nigeria’s conflicts are multi-faceted, driven by ethnic rivalries, land disputes and criminality, with religion often secondary.” He also argued that “claims of a religious war between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria are simplistic and betray ignorance of the country’s internal dynamics.”

Responding in her X post, Logan said: “Wow. Al Jazeera is profoundly wrong on this. I have been covering the Christian Genocide in Nigeria for years - largely thanks to the incredible work of Nigerian journalists like Lawrence Zongo, Tom Garba, Masara Kim & their colleagues at Truth Nigeria.”

She accused Al Jazeera of ignoring the ideological and religious motivations behind the violence.

“Herders who carry the black flag of al Qaeda & scream ‘Allah uAkbar’ as they slaughter women & children in village after village are not motivated by climate change but ideology,” she wrote.

Logan added that the attacks were deliberately designed to wipe out Christian communities.

“The attacks are time to destroy crops & prevent the return of people to their homes, thereby cleansing the land of Christians,” she said.

Her remarks directly contradict Kakanda’s position that “to present these conflicts as evidence of a Christian genocide erases these realities and distorts Nigeria’s history.”

Kakanda had also claimed that “most of Boko Haram’s victims have been Muslims,” and accused Western media figures such as American host Bill Maher of pushing “fabricated claims and manipulated images from unverified outlets.”

But Logan described such arguments as deceptive attempts to blur the truth.

“The truth is always simple at it’s core - those who seek to create ambiguity make it complex so they can deceive,” she stated.

Her X post has since drawn widespread attention, reigniting debate over how global media frames Nigeria’s ongoing violence.

SaharaReporters earlier reported on Monday that Nigerian actor and media consultant Joseph Chidi Okechukwu, popularly known as J. C. Okechukwu, had threatened to lead a mass boycott of Al Jazeera in response to Kakanda’s article.

He accused the network of “mocking the blood of innocent Christians” and vowed to mobilise churches and civil society groups to stop watching and engaging with Al Jazeera content unless the opinion piece was retracted and a public apology issued.

[color=orange]SaharaReporters[/color]

OLAADEGBU:
In a post on his verified X (formerly Twitter) account on Thursday, Senator Risch said, "Faith should never be a death sentence. Yet across parts of Africa, Christians are hunted, butchered, and terrorized for their beliefs while the world looks away.

OLAADEGBU:
In a post on his verified X (formerly Twitter) account on Thursday, Senator Risch said, "Faith should never be a death sentence. Yet across parts of Africa, Christians are hunted, butchered, and terrorized for their beliefs while the world looks away.

PFN President Wale Oke: “Genocide Exists In Nigeria But Not Only About Christians”
October 27, 2025
NEWS

Oke urged the Nigerian government to end the killings of both Muslims and Christians across the country, noting that no Nigerian deserves to die unjustly.

The National President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Bishop Wale Oke, has said that genocide exists in Nigeria but stressed that the killings are not limited to Christians.

In an interview on Sunday, Oke urged the Nigerian government to end the killings of both Muslims and Christians across the country, noting that no Nigerian deserves to die unjustly.

“Our position is that genocide exists, but it is not just about Christians. Our concern is that whether Muslim or Christian, stop the killing, that is our priority ,” he said, according to PUNCH.

He added that the PFN values the sanctity of all lives, noting that no Nigerian deserves to die for any reason.

“We don’t want Muslims to die, and we don’t want Christians to die. We don’t want a situation where there is genocide against Christians today and then it stops, only for there to be genocide against Muslims tomorrow.

“What we want is a situation where genocide is stopped entirely — whether among Muslims or Christians.” Oke stated.

The PFN president emphasised that the government’s primary responsibility is to ensure the welfare and security of its citizens.

“Government exists for the welfare of its people as a primary responsibility. When you don’t have governance that addresses the welfare of the people, the PFN wants to speak truth to power — to make leaders, whether in the political or any other sector, understand that the welfare of the people is important.

“The government should stop the killings. No innocent Nigerian should lose his or her life for any reason,” he added.

Oke’s comments come amid renewed debate over allegations of Christian genocide in Nigeria, following claims made by some US lawmakers and advocacy groups.

Recently, a group of U.S. legislators urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to take diplomatic action against the Nigerian government, citing what they described as the “systematic persecution and slaughter of Christians.”

The Nigerian government has, however, repeatedly dismissed such allegations, insisting that no religious group is being targeted.

Meanwhile, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had maintained that Christian communities, particularly in northern Nigeria, suffered sustained attacks, loss of lives, and destruction of places of worship.

SaharaReporters

Why there is Christian genocide in Nigeria — Bishop Abioye
Israel Arogbonlo
October 29, 2025

General Overseer of the Living Word Conquerors Global Assembly, Bishop David Abioye, has attributed the alleged Christian genocide in Nigeria to what he described as the silence and selfishness of political leaders who deny the reality of targeted killings for personal gain.

Bishop Abioye made the assertion while addressing his congregation during a sermon, accusing political leaders of turning a blind eye to mass killings for their “personal interests.”

According to him, the evidence of targeted killings against Christians is overwhelming and can no longer be dismissed.

“Information with facts can’t be thwarted. You see people (Christians) being buried in hundreds, and you said there is no genocide? What a wicked set of people!

“I agree that there are other people killed in other places for other reasons, but Christian genocide is very clear and gradually, it is eating down to the South.

“Southwest and Southeast, and many so-called leaders, for their personal interests, are claiming that it is not true,” he claimed.

His comments come amid ongoing debates over claims by some US lawmakers and religious freedom advocates that over 30 Christians are killed daily in Nigeria.

The group has called for the country to be designated as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) over alleged religious persecution.

However, the Federal Government has dismissed the allegations, insisting that Nigeria’s security challenges are not religiously motivated but rather stem from criminality, banditry, and terrorism affecting all citizens regardless of faith.

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