OPINION:
Today, more Christians are killed in one country than in the rest of the world combined, according to the Open Doors World Watch List … and it’s not China. It’s Nigeria, a future powerhouse with a young, rapidly growing population projected to become the world’s fourth most populous country by century’s end.
Nigeria is already Africa’s top producer of oil and has prodigious potential in rare-earth and other minerals. As it charts its course toward global power and influence, it is incumbent on the Trump administration and Congress to draw a bright line on the protection for Christians there.
A few weeks ago, a horrific video began circulating in which violent bandits beheaded a Baptist teacher after ransacking three Christian schools in Oyo state and kidnapping seven faculty members and 39 students, who remain missing.
Rep. Riley Moore, West Virginia Republican, estimates after a visit to Benue that more than 600,000 Christians are now living in Internally Displaced Persons Camps in that state.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria reports that at least 145 priests have been kidnapped, 11 have been murdered, and four remain missing since 2015. Intersociety claims the reality is worse, with attacks on at least 250 Catholic clergy plus 350 clergy from other denominations.
If current trends hold, Nigeria will move from about evenly split to two-thirds Muslim, owing to a higher birth rate among that group. It is this background that highlights the toxic effect of Islamic ideology on law, peace, and freedom.
The presence of influential terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and Fulani militia groups has produced gruesome conditions for Nigerian Christians and moderate Muslims. Boko Haram is committed to the violent establishment of an Islamist state in Nigeria, and 12 out of the country’s 36 states currently impose Shariah law.
President Trump has already labeled Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” and launched military strikes against Islamic State targets there, with the cooperation of the country’s central government. The president prefaced this action via Truth Social, where he made the protection of Christians the clear centerpiece of the mission:
“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria … The United States cannot stand by 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!”
This follows the Biden administration’s continuous refusal to acknowledge that any targeted persecution was taking place.
Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, proposed the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025 (NRFAA), which would impose U.S. banking sanctions and travel limits on “federal officials or state governors” who have “promoted, enacted, or maintained Nigerian blasphemy laws” or “tolerated violence by non-state actors invoking religious justifications to commit acts of violence.” The act also targets “judges, magistrates, prison officials, or other judicial or law enforcement authorities” who have “enforced blasphemy laws.”
Mr. Moore’s 2026 version of the NRFAA requires as a central provision ’a comprehensive report on United States efforts to address religious persecution and mass atrocities in Nigeria.” He also recommends the administration designate the Fulani militia groups as terrorist organizations to support the Nigerian government in eliminating them.
This is a significant maneuver since U.S. efforts have focused primarily on Boko Haram and Islamic State rather than on the Fulani groups, which Mr. Moore alleges have killed nearly 10,000 Christians and displaced over a half-million people between 2023 and 2025.
Nigeria will gain power and influence as its population grows. Now is the time to help it on the path to prosperity for all its people and confront the radical forces within the country. Millions of Christians and moderate Muslims are in a struggle against radical, anti-Western, anti-American jihadists. It’s time to take action and support freedom in Nigeria.
• Derrick Morgan is the executive vice president of the Heritage Foundation. Gabriella DiPrima is a member of Heritage’s Young Leaders Program.
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