By Joy Essien, Contributing Editor
The United States cannot standby while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other countries. We stand ready, willing , and able to save our great Christian population around the world!” These were words posted by President Trump on his pages and also on the White House official pages, yesterday. On the 31st, October 2025, the term “Country of Particular Concern” was designated to Nigeria as a result of the killing of thousands of Christians that has been going on for years, unabated.
Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, had recently addressed and downplayed claims of a “Christian genocide” in Nigeria. He stated that the violence in the country is primarily a social crisis, not a religious conflict, and that Nigerian Muslims are also significant victims of the same extremist groups.
Similarly, the Christian Association of Nigeria, on the 7th of October, dismissed claims of a Christian genocide in Nigeria, describing them as exaggerated narratives promoted by foreign actors. The controversy arose after U.S comedian Bill Maher alleged that Christians were being systematically killed in Nigeria. Maher alleged that Islamists had burnt down churches and were attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country.
Similarly, U.S Senator accused Nigerian officials of ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians by Islamist jihadists.
Amid mounting evidence of Christian persecution in Nigeria, the human rights group, Intersociety, have made demands focusing on restoring Nigeria’s secular foundations by enforcing the 1999 constitution, which guarantees religious freedom and prohibits a state religion. They also insist on a radical overhaul of the nation’s security forces. Father Ilo Umeagbalasi added his voice to proposals for a solution, arguing that for Nigerian Christians to combat persecution, they must forge a unified front. He criticised many preachers for prioritising “monetary gifts” obtained mostly from government. The physical landscape of faith has also been ravaged, with 19,100 churches burned to the ground and 1,100 entire Christian communities seized and occupied by jihadist forces allegedly backed or protected by the government. The violence, Umeagbalasi said, has fueled a humanitarian crisis, forcing an estimated 15 million people, mainly Christians, from their homes.
The report further highlights a deliberate targeting of spiritual leaders, with 600 clerics abducted and dozens killed or vanished.
Umeagbalasi warned that the terror is far from over, with 40 million Northern Christians threatened and millions of Christians in the South facing “genocidal threats.” He said the danger is amplified by a security force that has become “ethno-religiously radicalized and secularly imbalanced.”
He said if the trend is not halted, “Christianity could be wiped out from Nigeria in the next 50 years.”
Stan Chu Ilo, a Research Professor of African Studies at DePaul University, offers a nuanced perspective on the current situation in Nigeria.
Describing the Nigerian political scene as ‘convoluted,’ he says Christians are also complicit in their own undoing, citing the fact that some key positions in government are actually held by Christians.
The most recent Countries of Particular Concern designations were made by the U.S Secretary of State on December 29, 2023. They include:
Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabian, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998, the President is annually required to review the status of religious freedom in every country in the world. The law defines particularly severe violations as “systemic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom,” including violations such as torture, prolonged detention without charges, forced disappearance or other flagrant denial of life, liberty or security of persons. The term “Country of Particular Concern” is commonly associated with the U.S Commission on International Religious Freedom’s recommendation that a country be designated, which can lead to potential diplomatic pressure, sanctions or restrictions on foreign aid for that country. Nigeria was first designated as a CPC in December 2020 and has been recommended for re-designation by the US IRFA multiple times since.
