Christianity Faces Extinction Threat in Nigeria’s North, Middle Belt — Bishop Warns U.S. Lawmakers

A Nigerian bishop urgently warned U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday about the existential threat facing Christianity in Nigeria’s North and Middle Belt regions, where targeted killings and systematic persecution by Islamist militants risk erasing the faith altogether.

Bishop Wilfred Anagbe, leader of the Diocese of Makurdi, told the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa that militant groups — including Boko Haram, ISIS-linked factions, and Fulani herdsmen — have launched a coordinated campaign to eliminate Christian communities. “The Church in Nigeria is under Islamist extermination,” he said, detailing a harrowing pattern of violence involving mass killings, kidnappings, the destruction of churches, and occupation of Christian lands.

The bishop highlighted a disturbing government failure to protect Christians, describing how security forces frequently neglect or fail to respond to pleas for help, effectively providing impunity for perpetrators. This neglect contributes to an ongoing strategy to marginalize and ultimately remove Christians from key areas through both violent and non-violent tactics, including imposing Islamic law on Christian populations.

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This alarming testimony comes as the U.S. Congress debates the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, a proposed bill that could impose sanctions on Nigerian governors and officials deemed complicit in or negligent toward religious persecution against Christians. The act also seeks to increase international pressure on Nigeria to protect religious freedom and hold perpetrators accountable.

The bishop called on U.S. federal officials to designate Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern,” which would open the door for diplomatic and economic sanctions aimed at curbing the violence and safeguarding the rights of millions of Nigerian Christians.

The ongoing violence has displaced more than three million Nigerians in these regions, forcing communities to flee their homes and farms. Christian villages face regular raids, with recent incidents in Plateau and Nasarawa states marking some of the deadliest episodes. These attacks not only threaten lives but endanger Nigeria’s religious and cultural diversity.

With international attention mounting, including warnings from the Vatican and calls from U.S. leaders, the global community faces urgent decisions on how to best support Nigeria’s beleaguered Christians amid this escalating crisis.