Nigeria: US senator Ted Cruz accuses Nigerian officials of complicity in attacks on christians

By Zuleihat Owuiye, Mamos Nigeria

US Senator Ted Cruz has accused Nigerian government officials of being complicit in attacks against Christians, claiming Nigeria records the highest number of faith-based killings of Christians globally.

Speaking Tuesday at a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee hearing on US counterterrorism strategy in Africa, Cruz said more than 50,000 Christians have been killed since 2009, with over 20,000 churches, schools, and other religious buildings destroyed.

Unfortunately, complicit in facilitating these atrocities,” he said. He linked some of the violence to the operation of Sharia law in parts of northern Nigeria and criticized what he called a slow response to insecurity.

Cruz recalled a prior meeting with Nigerian defence and security officials who promised to address the violence. “I told them I would judge their commitment by the results. Those results have yet to materialise,” he said.

In October, Cruz introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, a bill he said is designed to hold Nigerian officials accountable for alleged involvement in attacks on Christians.

During the hearing, he questioned Nick Checker, a senior official with the US State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, on whether US-Nigeria engagements had produced progress. Checker said Nigeria had shown “some level of cooperation,” citing leadership changes in security services, recruitment of additional troops, and deployment of forest guards to violence-hit areas.

“We’ve seen some positive movements, including leadership changes in Nigerian security services, recruitment of additional troops, and deployment of forest guards to areas affected by violence,” Checker said. He added that prosecutions of suspected terrorists have increased and noted a new bilateral high-level working group formed after talks between Nigeria’s National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu and US Under Secretary of State Allison Hooker.

“We’ve seen positive steps by the Nigerians, but certainly more can be done,” Checker said, adding that the US will continue to push for further action.

*Lai Mohammed: More Muslims Killed Than Christians*  

Former Information Minister Lai Mohammed on Wednesday in the United Kingdom dismissed claims of a “Christian genocide” in Nigeria, saying insurgent groups have killed more Muslims than Christians.

Speaking to students at Abbey College, Cambridge, Mohammed said narratives of targeted religious persecution are “fake news.”

“There should be more understanding on the part of the developed world. Now, people say that there is religious persecution in Nigeria and that there is genocide against Christians. It’s not true,” he said.

He argued that Nigeria’s security crisis is complex and not a deliberate campaign to eliminate any religious group. Boko Haram, he said, began by targeting Muslims who embraced Western education. “At the beginning, the victims of Boko Haram were largely Muslims, not Christians. Boko Haram started as a revolt by extreme Muslims against conventional Muslims like me.”

He explained the group’s name: “‘haram’ means forbidden or illicit, ‘boko’ means Western education. So for Boko Haram, I, Lai Mohammed, having gone to school, am an enemy.”

Mohammed said the group shifted tactics because “Muslims killing one another doesn’t gain traction. When Muslims start killing Christians, it causes uproar.”

He also rejected claims that banditry is religion-driven, calling it a criminal enterprise affecting people of the same ethnic and religious backgrounds. “The bandits are Muslims, they are Hausa-Fulanis. Their victims are Muslims, they are Hausa-Fulanis. So how can you now talk about religion? It has nothing to do with religion.”

He insisted Nigeria has “a spirit of religious tolerance” and that records show Muslims account for the largest number of insurgency victims. “In Nigeria, the average Muslim and Christian only disagree over money. They won’t disagree over theology… That is why you have many Christians marrying Muslims and vice versa.”

“So, this narrative about Christian genocide is not true and we must vigorously use public communication to challenge it,” he said.