₦airaland Forum

United States lawmaker, Rep. Marlin Stutzman, has joined Senator Ted Cruz in condemning the alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria, calling for urgent action to protect the beleaguered community.

The lawmakers’ recent comments follow reports of widespread violence and killings of Christians by jihadist groups in Nigeria. According to reports, thousands of Christians have been killed, and many others have been kidnapped and displaced in 2025 alone.


"We must use the targeted tools we have at our disposal to end it," Republican Stutzman of Indiana said in a post shared on his X handle.

"Implementing Sharia law and condoning the murder of innocent people is barbaric."

Kend

Cruz earlier stated that Nigerian Christians were being "targeted and executed for their faith by Islamist terrorist groups." He added that Christians are being forced to submit to Sharia law and blasphemy laws across Nigeria.




Background

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna also condemned the silence surrounding the persecution, saying, "Christians are being hunted and slaughtered in Nigeria for their faith — and the world stays silent. If this were any other group, there’d be global outrage."

The lawmakers' call for action comes amid growing concerns about the worsening security situation in Nigeria, where extremist groups such as Boko Haram continue to wreak havoc on innocent civilians.

Meanwhile, the United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa has approved measures urging President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on Nigeria due to the widespread persecution of Christians.

The persecution of Christians in Nigeria is a pressing concern, with the country accounting for 90% of all Christians killed globally each year, according to a 2024 report by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa.

For instance, between October 2019 and September 2023, at least 55,910 people were killed, and 21,000 others were abducted in attacks linked to terrorist groups and religious extremists.

Islamic terror groups Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) are primarily responsible for the violence in the northeast.

The Nigerian government has been criticised for its handling of the situation, with lawmakers accusing the government of turning a blind eye to Christian killings and allowing extremist groups to operate with impunity.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has also warned that Nigeria's security forces have failed to curb the violence and that, in some cases, local officials have been complicit.

The proposed sanctions could mark a significant shift in US-Nigeria relations, with potential economic and diplomatic implications for Nigeria. The US House Foreign Affairs Committee had advanced a resolution to increase sanctions and pressure on the Nigerian government over the rampant persecution of Christians and other minorities in the country.

This decision comes after a congressional hearing where lawmakers condemned the Nigerian government for failing to protect Christian communities from escalating violence.

SaharaReporters reported on Wednesday that the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah, appealed to the international community not to re-designate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” over religious freedom violations.

Although he acknowledged the worsening Christian situation in Nigeria, especially in Northern Nigeria, his argument was that such a move could derail ongoing efforts to rebuild trust and promote interfaith harmony under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Speaking at the launch of the 2025 World Report on Religious Freedom by Aid to the Church in Need (ACIN) at the Augustinianum Hall in Vatican City, Kukah described Nigeria’s situation as tragic but cautioned against punitive international actions that could worsen divisions and hinder cooperation between religious leaders and the government.

He acknowledged that Nigeria has experienced years of violence, kidnappings, and destruction caused by jihadist and bandit groups, resulting in thousands of deaths and displaced persons.

He said, "For over 15 years now, these murderous gangs of Islamicists and jihadist groups have found their way into our country, wreaking havoc, destroying lives and properties, ravaging farmlands and leaving huge parts of the country empty of human existence.

“Along with this, a culture of uncontrolled banditry, thousands of communities have been destroyed, with thousands of lives lost.

"The country has witnessed an unacceptable surge in internal displacement in most parts of the north, especially around the middle belt states.

"The biggest challenge for us is the appropriate language to use in describing this tragedy. The reactions have been confusing. Early narratives spoke of farmer-herder clashes, climate change, cattle rustling, outright criminality, etc.

“With the emergence of Boko Haram and the targeting of Church structures, destruction of schools, hospitals, the kidnapping of priests, the religious, seminarians and other pastoral agents, the murderous gangs invoking the words like, allahu akubar as their anthem of death, there was no other way of speaking of persecution of Christians by these jihadist groups rather than calling them religious persecution targeted at Christians.

"Then came the sacking of communities and the occupation of swaths of lands by these terrorist and murderous groups. These groups would later target Muslims who did not believe in their brand of Islam. Today, the floods of blood in Nigeria have no boundaries. This is why the debate over what is happening to us has become so confusing within and outside Nigeria. Although we cannot find the right words, the simple truth is that Nigerians are dying for a living."

Kukah noted that the confusion over the appropriate language is understandable.

Kukah explained that Nigerians feel vulnerable and unprotected irrespective of their faiths, ethnicity, or social classes. A significant part of our social life has literally collapsed as many citizens now fear large gatherings for social

https://saharareporters.com/2025/10/23/us-lawmaker-stutzman-condemns-sharia-law-joins-ted-cruz-decrying-barbaric-violence?fbclid=IwdGRjcANnGmZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHoTrMoc5LNYHITNdlzBXrxg5HbYize4wNQAtnIF79_xO4T6W62s44yG65at3_aem_Nkf6oqOPPa8HRItTC_WBBQ

Nlfpmod Nlfpmod

That sharia law is one of the most useless thing I have seen in Nigeria… Why should you create and practice your own law within law ?

Meanwhile,


“ The proposed sanctions could mark a significant shift in US-Nigeria relations, with potential economic and diplomatic implications for Nigeria. The US House Foreign Affairs Committee had advanced a resolution to increase sanctions and pressure on the Nigerian government over the rampant persecution of Christians and other minorities in the country”


The should not have a second thought in doing this ..

Nigerians feel vulnerable and unprotected irrespective of their faiths, ethnicity, or social classes.

Racoon:
Nigerians feel vulnerable and unprotected irrespective of their faiths, ethnicity, or social classes.

This political correctness won’t lead you to anywhere.. Call a spade a spade …

Nobody is telling them to stop blowing themselves up, they should leave Christians out it ..

"The biggest challenge for us is the appropriate language to use in describing this tragedy. The reactions have been confusing. Early narratives spoke of farmer-herder clashes, climate change, cattle rustling, outright criminality, etc.

“With the emergence of Boko Haram and the targeting of Church structures, destruction of schools, hospitals, the kidnapping of priests, the religious, seminarians and other pastoral agents, the murderous gangs invoking the words like, allahu akubar as their anthem of death, there was no other way of speaking of persecution of Christians by these jihadist groups rather than calling them religious persecution targeted at Christians.

People who have submitted their brains to demonic entities are picking arms and claimimg they have griviances they cannot express. Grievances that leaves innocent Christian settlements cleared and the killers settled therein.

That is the only comprehensive pathway to end radicalism, hate and subjugation of a particular group of people not to be condescended, enslave or be prone to vampires who wear the cassock of religion supremacy to perpetrate outmost evil to the society.

Racoon:
Nigerians feel vulnerable and unprotected irrespective of their faiths, ethnicity, or social classes.

Dont use you partisan pains and travail to derail an injustice that has existed since independence of the chaotic entity called one Nigeria.

Reno Omokri will say that sharia law doesn't exist in Nigeria. That maria law is what is in Nigeria.

Laptop boys will come and start wailing on this thread!

Long over due. Islam is a cancer to the world 🌎🌍🌍

The call is getting louder and we all can predict the direction the rain will come from. When the present government took over and decided to look the other way, while Christians were being killed, what did you expect? Again I want us to understand the political undercurrent behind this storm. President Bola Tinubu and his deputy Shetima have both attacked the US during the president's visit to Asia, and the vp during his speech at the UN, that l kept asking who wrote that speech for the government. These two instances angered the Trump's administration. It's unfortunate that prof. Bolaji Akinyemi's advise to BAT and his goons seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Peter Tosh, in one of his sang "if you live in a glass house, don't throw stones" The end game would be the appointment of a US special envoy to and possibly a UN rapporteur that would seal the fate of this present administration. Nigerians should expect serious interference from the US, but can we as divided as we are hold on? Only time will tell.

SWATMan:
The call is getting louder and we all can predict the direction the rain will come from. When the present government took over and decided to look the other way, while Christians were being killed, what did you expect? Again I want us to understand the political undercurrent behind this storm. President Bola Tinubu and his deputy Shetima have both attacked the US during the president's visit to Asia, and the vp during his speech at the UN, that l kept asking who wrote that speech for the government. These two instances angered the Trump's administration. It's unfortunate that prof. Bolaji Akinyemi's advise to BAT and his goons seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Peter Tosh, in one of his sang "if you live in a glass house, don't throw stones" The end game would be the appointment of a US special envoy to and possibly a UN rapporteur that would seal the fate of this present administration. Nigerians should expect serious interference from the US, but can we as divided as we are hold on? Only time will tell.

Tulumbu and his gang of killer rogues are gone..

Some lobby groups are giving Tinubu and APC a taste of their own medicine
When they were teaming up with the Obama administration to derail Jonathan's govt, it was all fun and games then
Toady the chicken has crossed the road
Power at all costs. See the result!

The so called model of Sharia Law in Nigeria, Zamfara state has become the Model for Terrorism, bandits, bloodshed and genocide.

The Sharia is meant for one thing - Violence.

Anything to stop Islamic terrorism in Nigeria is okay by me

Ezeama400:
This political correctness won’t lead you to anywhere.. Call a spade a spade …

Nobody is telling them to stop blowing themselves up, they should leave Christians out it ..

My own is that a major Muslim block like the Muslim core north and a major Christian bloc like Alaigbo/Biafra have no business sharing the same country! They’re polar opposites….two parallel lines that cannot meet, and there’s bound to be strife and disharmony lumping both disparate entities together in one country! It’s either both are constantly at each others throats or one is given a privileged position to ‘lord it’ over the other….as is the case with the Fulani hegemony and the Igbo!

Kukutente23:
Some lobby groups are giving Tinubu and APC a taste of their own medicine
When they were teaming up with the Obama administration to derail Jonathan's govt, it was all fun and games then
Toady the chicken has crossed the road
Power at all costs. See the result!

Exactly!

PS: Do you notice the Star of David hiding in the Seal of the State Department?

US has no right to tell Nigeria what laws must prevail.

You cannot claim persecution of christians, yet claim this is done via Sharia.

Pick a line of argument .

Flangelo12:
US has no right to tell Nigeria what laws must prevail.

You cannot claim persecution of christians, yet claim this is done via Sharia.

Pick a line of argument .

Us has every right to point out anomalies in a country that host it's citizens.

If nija is purely an Islamic country, tell us, so people can prepare their minds to visit and not hiding under secularism to practice another law found in the country's criminal code

Nnamdi Kanu and all lovers of freedom incarcerated by JIHADISTs in Government of APC must be released and BIAFRA will materialize and evolve to a Nation of greatness.

Let Yoruba and Northerners live in peace in NIGERIA. Remember what the Northern elders told Yoruba people. They said Dangote Refinery is a National Asset.

Nuff Said!!

IPOB
BRIGE
BIAFRA Diaspora

Should expose the acts of these JIHADISTs.

I hope this song leads in the direction I am thinking it is designed to lead.

Broveens42:
Us has every right to point out anomalies in a country that host it's citizens.

If nija is purely an Islamic country, tell us, so people can prepare their minds to visit and not hiding under secularism to practice another law found in the country's criminal code

It's citizens?

Where?

You mean the minuscule number of people who come in to reap from our resources?

Ezeama400:
United States lawmaker, Rep. Marlin Stutzman, has joined Senator Ted Cruz in condemning the alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria, calling for urgent action to protect the beleaguered community.

The lawmakers’ recent comments follow reports of widespread violence and killings of Christians by jihadist groups in Nigeria. According to reports, thousands of Christians have been killed, and many others have been kidnapped and displaced in 2025 alone.


"We must use the targeted tools we have at our disposal to end it," Republican Stutzman of Indiana said in a post shared on his X handle.

"Implementing Sharia law and condoning the murder of innocent people is barbaric."

Kend

Cruz earlier stated that Nigerian Christians were being "targeted and executed for their faith by Islamist terrorist groups." He added that Christians are being forced to submit to Sharia law and blasphemy laws across Nigeria.




Background

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna also condemned the silence surrounding the persecution, saying, "Christians are being hunted and slaughtered in Nigeria for their faith — and the world stays silent. If this were any other group, there’d be global outrage."

The lawmakers' call for action comes amid growing concerns about the worsening security situation in Nigeria, where extremist groups such as Boko Haram continue to wreak havoc on innocent civilians.

Meanwhile, the United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa has approved measures urging President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on Nigeria due to the widespread persecution of Christians.

The persecution of Christians in Nigeria is a pressing concern, with the country accounting for 90% of all Christians killed globally each year, according to a 2024 report by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa.

For instance, between October 2019 and September 2023, at least 55,910 people were killed, and 21,000 others were abducted in attacks linked to terrorist groups and religious extremists.

Islamic terror groups Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) are primarily responsible for the violence in the northeast.

The Nigerian government has been criticised for its handling of the situation, with lawmakers accusing the government of turning a blind eye to Christian killings and allowing extremist groups to operate with impunity.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has also warned that Nigeria's security forces have failed to curb the violence and that, in some cases, local officials have been complicit.

The proposed sanctions could mark a significant shift in US-Nigeria relations, with potential economic and diplomatic implications for Nigeria. The US House Foreign Affairs Committee had advanced a resolution to increase sanctions and pressure on the Nigerian government over the rampant persecution of Christians and other minorities in the country.

This decision comes after a congressional hearing where lawmakers condemned the Nigerian government for failing to protect Christian communities from escalating violence.

SaharaReporters reported on Wednesday that the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah, appealed to the international community not to re-designate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” over religious freedom violations.

Although he acknowledged the worsening Christian situation in Nigeria, especially in Northern Nigeria, his argument was that such a move could derail ongoing efforts to rebuild trust and promote interfaith harmony under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Speaking at the launch of the 2025 World Report on Religious Freedom by Aid to the Church in Need (ACIN) at the Augustinianum Hall in Vatican City, Kukah described Nigeria’s situation as tragic but cautioned against punitive international actions that could worsen divisions and hinder cooperation between religious leaders and the government.

He acknowledged that Nigeria has experienced years of violence, kidnappings, and destruction caused by jihadist and bandit groups, resulting in thousands of deaths and displaced persons.

He said, "For over 15 years now, these murderous gangs of Islamicists and jihadist groups have found their way into our country, wreaking havoc, destroying lives and properties, ravaging farmlands and leaving huge parts of the country empty of human existence.

“Along with this, a culture of uncontrolled banditry, thousands of communities have been destroyed, with thousands of lives lost.

"The country has witnessed an unacceptable surge in internal displacement in most parts of the north, especially around the middle belt states.

"The biggest challenge for us is the appropriate language to use in describing this tragedy. The reactions have been confusing. Early narratives spoke of farmer-herder clashes, climate change, cattle rustling, outright criminality, etc.

“With the emergence of Boko Haram and the targeting of Church structures, destruction of schools, hospitals, the kidnapping of priests, the religious, seminarians and other pastoral agents, the murderous gangs invoking the words like, allahu akubar as their anthem of death, there was no other way of speaking of persecution of Christians by these jihadist groups rather than calling them religious persecution targeted at Christians.

"Then came the sacking of communities and the occupation of swaths of lands by these terrorist and murderous groups. These groups would later target Muslims who did not believe in their brand of Islam. Today, the floods of blood in Nigeria have no boundaries. This is why the debate over what is happening to us has become so confusing within and outside Nigeria. Although we cannot find the right words, the simple truth is that Nigerians are dying for a living."

Kukah noted that the confusion over the appropriate language is understandable.

Kukah explained that Nigerians feel vulnerable and unprotected irrespective of their faiths, ethnicity, or social classes. A significant part of our social life has literally collapsed as many citizens now fear large gatherings for social

https://saharareporters.com/2025/10/23/us-lawmaker-stutzman-condemns-sharia-law-joins-ted-cruz-decrying-barbaric-violence?fbclid=IwdGRjcANnGmZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHoTrMoc5LNYHITNdlzBXrxg5HbYize4wNQAtnIF79_xO4T6W62s44yG65at3_aem_Nkf6oqOPPa8HRItTC_WBBQ

Nlfpmod Nlfpmod

Nlfpmod

US should know the reason Nigeria keep killing Igbos is because they are majority Christians.

It's about to go down.

Now shit will be thrown from every angle.

The end of the laptop crew. This I have seen.

Our type of democracy need open heart surgery.

Flangelo12:
It's citizens?

Where?

You mean the minuscule number of people who come in to reap from our resources?

You still didn't address the issue...

I didn't say the US is righteous.. I didn't say an Islamic country is bad neither.

I only pointed out the laws of a country claiming to practice secularism, which could put people's lives in danger for lack of clarity.

DeepSight:
Exactly!

PS: Do you notice the Star of David hiding in the Seal of the State Department?

Where did you see star of David

Broveens42:
You still didn't address the issue...

I didn't say the US is righteous.. I didn't say an Islamic country is bad neither.

I only pointed out the laws of a country claiming to practice secularism, which could put people's lives in danger for lack of clarity.

Three is clarity.

Have you ever seen anyone who was christian charged by Sharia?

Sharia is for Muslims within the confines of States that have adopted it.

2 black men were found hung in America about a month ago.

Does that mean that lynching is part of the American state?

Kukutente23:
Where did you see star of David

Look again, look carefully. Look at the shape in which the 13 stars representing the first thirteen states are arranged.

Flangelo12:
Three is clarity.

Have you ever seen anyone who was christian charged by Sharia?

Sharia is for Muslims within the confines of States that have adopted it.

2 black men were found hung in America about a month ago.

Does that mean that lynching is part of the American state?

Sharia laws have been applied to non Muslims in Nigeria and in fact just this week, one instance was in the news.

NO SECULAR STATE SHOULD HAVE RELIGIOUS LAWS OF ANY KIND.

None!

Indeed, even for Muslims who do not agree with certain tenets of Islam, they are free to say so without being tried, imprisoned or killed for blasphemy - all of which have happened in Nigeria.

DeepSight:
Sharia laws have been applied to non Muslims in Nigeria and in fact just this week, one instance was in the news.

NO SECULAR STATE SHOULD HAVE RELIGIOUS LAWS OF ANY KIND.

None!

Indeed, even for Muslims who do not agree with certain tenets of Islam, they are free to say so without being tried, imprisoned or killed for blasphemy - all of which have happened in Nigeria.

Who must tell Nigerians what laws must exist within her state divisions?

No one.

Sharia was implemented in states that thought it fit.

The US has her problems and should focus on them..
Not like we rely on her for anything.