A United States lawmaker, Nancy Mace, has described Nigeria as the most dangerous country in the world for Christians.
Mace made the claim on Monday via a post on her official X account.
The lawmaker alleged that five million people have been displaced, 9,100 churches destroyed, over 850 Christians held hostage, and 600 clergy attacked in Nigeria.
She wrote, “Nigeria is the most dangerous place in the world for Christians.
“➡️ 5 Million Displaced
➡️ 9,100 Churches Destroyed
➡️ 850+ Christian Hostages
➡️ 600 Clergy Attacked.”
Her post adds to a growing wave of comments from American public figures alleging widespread persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
Recently, US comedian and HBO host Bill Maher accused Islamist groups of carrying out a genocide against Christians in the country.
“I’m not a Christian, but they are systematically killing the Christians in Nigeria. They’ve killed over a hundred thousand since 2009. They’ve burnt 18,000 churches. These are the Islamists, Boko Haram. This is so much more of a genocide attempt than what is going on in Gaza.
“They are literally attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country,” Maher said.
Similarly, US Senator Ted Cruz claimed that Nigerian government officials were “ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians by Islamist jihadists.”
Cruz also lamented that Christians in the country were being targeted for their faith by terrorist groups and “are being forced to submit to sharia law and blasphemy laws across Nigeria.”
He said it was “long past time to impose real costs on the Nigerian officials who facilitate these activities,” adding that he had introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act to the US Senate to sanction such officials.
In the same vein, Riley Moore, who represents West Virginia’s 2nd District in the US Congress, wrote to the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, urging him to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.
Moore also called for a suspension of arms sales and technical support to Nigeria until the government demonstrates commitment to ending what he described as “a reign of persecution and slaughter against Christians.”
However, both the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Nigerian Presidency have dismissed the allegations of a Christian genocide.
While CAN described the reports as false narratives peddled by foreign agents, the Presidency insisted that there is no religious war taking place in the country.
