Cruz promises a responsibility for Nigerian Christian murders and violence

First on Fox: A diplomatic battle is waged between the main republican senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas and representatives of the Nigerian government. Cruz warned that he will hold these officials responsible for the “mass massacre” reported from tens of thousands of Christians in Nigeria. The authorities said that Cruz was lying, with a person saying that even if the Pope has publicly called the killings, there is religious harmony in the country.

Nigeria is one of the most dangerous places in the world to become Christians, according to the global list of global surveillance of the international Christian Advocacy Group Open Doors International. It is estimated that 48% of the population is Christian. But out of the 4,476 Christians reported killed worldwide in the last WWL reference period, 3,100 of those who died – 69% – were in Nigeria.

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Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act, which, according to him, would target civil servants “with powerful sanctions and other tools”. (Kayla Bartkowski / Getty Images)

On Saturday, Nigerian President’s spokesman Bola Ahmed Tinubu told a Lagos newspaper in Nigeria that Cruz should “stop these malicious and artificial lies” on murders.

In response, Cruz, president of the Senate subcommittee on Africa and the global health policy, told Fox News Digital: “The Federal Government of Nigeria and a dozen governments of the States apply the laws on blasphemy in their criminal and sharia codes, and they ignore or facilitate the violence of the crowd targeting Christians.”

On Friday, the Nigerian Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, spoke exclusively to Fox News Digital, rejecting Cruz’s claims on Christians massacred in his country. “The Nigerian government rejects this. It is certainly not true,” he said.

In response, Senator Cruz told Fox News Digital that murders “are the result of decisions taken by specific people, in specific places, at specific times. The United States knows who are these people, and I intend to keep them responsible.”

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

Cruz said: “Since 2009, more than 50,000 Christians in Nigeria have been massacred, and more than 20,000 Christian churches and schools have been destroyed. These atrocities are directly linked to the policies of Nigerian federal and state officials. They are the result of decisions taken by specific persons, in specific places, at specific moments – and that is said to be a large part of a large part is if she’s shone on these problems. “

On Friday, Cruz posted on X: “Nigeria officials ignore and even facilitate the mass murder of Christians by Islamist jihadists. It is time to hold responsible officials.” He then referred to a new bill he presented to the Senate: “My Nigeria Religious Freedom Act would target these civil servants with powerful sanctions and other tools.”

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This led to an immediate response from the presidential Nigerian spokesperson Bayo Onanuga. Interviewed by the Nigerian Daily Post the next day, Onanuga demanded: “The senator, stops these malicious and artificial lies against my country. Christians are not targeted. We have religious harmony in our country.”

Idris told Fox News Digital that Cruz’s comments are “very misleading. This is not true. It is not a reflection of what is on the ground. I mean that it is false where you say that more than 20,000 churches have been burned. It is also false if you say 52,000 Christians killed), from which he obtained these figures. violent to target a particular religion in this country. “

Idris also said: “Nigeria is a multi-Fir country, which means that it is a country that has several religions. We have Christians, we have Muslims, we even have those who do not believe in any of these two religions. Nigeria is a very tolerant country. The government of Nigeria is committed to ensuring that there is a religious freedom in this country, but we do extremist organizations country.”

The members of the Catholic church St Leo hold a procession for Mark Palm Sunday in Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria, April 13, 2025. (Photo by Adekunle Ajayi) (Photo of Adekunle Ajayi / Getty Images)

Idris continued: “It is unfortunately unhappy that some of these extremists have killed a certain number of Christians and a certain number of Muslims almost wherever this violent extremism has support. So, it is (the accusation by Senator Cruz) not true. We find that it is very unhappy.

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Natalie Blair of the open doors says that independent Nigeria data show that “Christians can be targeted by radical extremists and that radical extremists can also kill Muslims who do not comply with their radical ideology.” But Blair, a senior member of the open doors’ defense team, told Fox News Digital: “Boko Haram and Iswap (Islamic province of West Africa) explicitly and repeatedly declared Christians as targets. And many victims told us that when Fulanis activists attacked, they did not just shout” we will just “destroy all Christians”.

Blair added: “According to the Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa,, The data of civilians killed – exempting military and terrorist deaths – in northern Nigeria, are 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 suffering of a Muslim less important, This makes it less likely. “”

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

The diocese of Makurdi by Mgr Wilfred Anagbe is almost exclusively Christian. But the constant attacks and the climbing of militants of the Muslim Fulani led him to testify during an audience of the Congress in March in Washington, affirming that there is “a long -term Islamic program (in Nigeria) to homogenize. The population has been implemented on several presidencies.” Consequently. ”

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Idris was disdainful of the testimony of the bishop’s congress: “Let me say that the bishop’s position is extreme. This is not true. The Nigerian government has demystified this in the past.”

The funeral of around 27 Christians were reportedly killed by members of the Fulani Islamist tribe in the village of Bindi Ta-Hoss, in Nigeria. (Gracieuse: Christian Solidarity International (CSI))

Blair open doors, with access to Nigerian villagers, replied: “We must listen to the voices of those who have known the violence of first -hand. People on the ground do not believe that anyone will pay for these violent crimes. It is because they have never been charged or was imported.”

Blair concluded: “The right to life, guaranteed under article 33 of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999, has no sense unless the State acts decisively to punish those who violate it. The current culture of impunity will only result in more bloodshed and continue to erode the confidence of the public in the state of law.”