Fighting Religious Persecution

Since the beginning of 2022, Islamist extremists of the Fulani ethnic group have carried out at least 140 attacks against Christians in the Benue State, a region in Nigeria. These heinous acts — including massacres and the destruction of entire villages — have thus far been carried out with total impunity.

This week, I had the honor of meeting two brave leaders from the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi, which is home to a camp for two million internally displaced people. These men respond daily to some of the most gruesome attacks on humanity and minister to the traumatized survivors.

As chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I’m calling on the Biden administration to send the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom to Nigeria to investigate the persecution and draw attention to the rising number of Christians being killed. 

The United States cannot turn a blind eye to this religiously motivated persecution any longer.