Cruz vows accountability for Nigerian Christian killings and violence

First on the fox: A diplomatic battle is waged between the leading Republican Senator Ted Cruzand R-Texas, and Nigerian government officials. Cruz warned that he would hold those officials accountable for the reported “mass slaughter” of tens of thousands of Christians in Nigeria. Officials claimed that Cruz was lying, and one claimed that although the Pope openly advocates murder, there is religious harmony in the country.

Nigeria is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be Christian, according to the international Christian advocacy group Open Doors International 2025 World List (WWL). An estimated 48% of the population is Christian. But of the 4,476 Christians reported killed worldwide in WWL’s most recent reporting period, 3,100 of those who died — 69% — were in Nigeria.

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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced the Confronting Religious Freedom in Nigeria Act, which he said would target officials “with strong sanctions and other tools.” (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

On Saturday, the Nigerian president’s official spokesperson, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, told a newspaper in Lagos, Nigeria, that Cruz should “stop these malicious lies and emulation” over the murders.

In response, Cruz, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy, told Fox News Digital, “The Nigerian federal government and dozens of state governments enforce blasphemy laws in their criminal and Sharia laws, and they ignore or facilitate mob violence targeting Christians.”

On Friday, Nigeria’s Information Minister, Muhammad Idris, spoke exclusively with Fox News Digitizer, dismissing Cruz’s claims about… Christians who oscillate In his country. “The Nigerian government rejects this. This is definitely not true,” he said.

In reaction, Senator Cruz told Fox News Digit that the killings “are the result of decisions made by specific people, in specific places, at specific times. The United States knows who these people are, and I intend to hold them accountable.”

Pope Leo XIV condemned the killings of up to 200 people in the Yellowata community in Nigeria on June 13, 2025. (Associated Press)

“Since 2009, more than 50,000 Christians have been destroyed in Nigeria, and more than 20,000 Christian churches and schools have been destroyed,” Cruz said. “These atrocities are directly linked to Nigerian federal policies and government officials. They are the result of these issues being wrong.”

On Friday, Cruz posted on He continued to point to a new bill he has introduced in the Senate: “The Nigeria Religious Freedom Confrontation Act would target these officials with strong sanctions and other tools.”

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This is drawn from an immediate response from the Nigerian presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga. “Senator, stop these malicious and contrived lies against my country. Christians are not being targeted. We have religious harmony in our country,” Onanuga, interviewed by the Daily Post the next day, demanded.

Idris told Fox News Digital that Cruz’s comments are “very misleading. That’s not true. That’s not a reflection of what’s on the ground. I mean it’s wrong where you say over 20,000 churches have been burned. It’s also wrong if you say 52,000 (Christians killed)Where did he get these numbers? I think this is absolutely ridiculous. It is not supported by any facts at all. The Nigerian government rejects this. No Nigerian officials would willingly, knowingly indulge in the act of aligning with violent extremists to target any particular religion in this country. This is completely wrong.”

Idris also stated, “Nigeria is a multi-religious country, meaning it is a country with multiple religions. We have Christians, we have Muslims, we even have those who do not believe in either of these religions. Nigeria is a very tolerant country.

Members of St. Leo Catholic Church carry a procession to celebrate Sunday in Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria, on April 13, 2025 (Photo by Adekunle Ajayi) (Photo by Adekunle Ajayi/Getty Images)

Idris continued, “It is unfortunate, unfortunately, that some of these extremists have killed a number of Christians and a number of Muslims almost everywhere where this violent extremism has support. So (this accusation by Senator Cruz) is not true. It is unfortunate.”

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Open Doors’ Natalie Blair says independent data from Nigeria shows ‘radical extremists can be targeted by radical extremists Also killing Muslims Who do not agree with his radical ideology. But Blair, a senior member of the Open Doors Advocacy team, told Fox News Digital, “Boko Haram and Izor (the Islamic province of West Africa) have explicitly and repeatedly named Christians as targets.” Many victims told us that when Fulani militants attack, they don’t just shout, “Allahu Akbar,” (God is great), they shout, “We will destroy all Christians.”

Blair added: “According to the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africaand The data on civilians killed – excluding military and terrorist deaths – in northern Nigeria is unequivocal: more Christians are killed by extremists than Muslims – if you are a Christian, you are 6.5 times more likely to be killed than a Muslim. This does not make the Muslim’s suffering any less important, It makes it less likely.”

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently told a Nigerian newspaper that Ted Cruz should “stop these malicious lies and emulation” over the killings. (Ton Molina/Getty Images)

Bishop Wilfred Anagbe Makurdi’s diocese is almost exclusively Christian. But the continuous and escalating attacks by Fulani Muslim militants prompted him to testify in A Congressional hearing In March in Washington, saying that there was a “long-term Islamic agenda (in Nigeria) to homogenize the population over many years through a strategy to reduce Christian identity and eventually halve it throughout Nigeria.

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Idris was dismissive of the bishop’s testimony in Congress: “Let me say that the bishop’s position is extreme. It is not true. The Nigerian government has exposed that in the past.”

Funerals for about 27 Christians who were killed by Fulani Islamic tribesmen in Pende Ta Hus village, Nigeria. (Courtesy: Christian Solidarity International (CSI))

Blair answered Open Doors, with access to Nigerian villagers, “We must listen to the voices of those who have experienced violence firsthand. People on the ground do not trust anyone to pay for these violent crimes. This is because they have seen hundreds of suspects arrested over the years, then released, having been directed to stand trial.”

Blair concluded, “The right to life, guaranteed under Article 33 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, is meaningless unless the state acts decisively to punish those who violate it. A continuing culture of impunity will only lead to more bloodshed and continue to erode public confidence in the rule of law.”