More Christians Killed In Nigeria Than Anywhere Else In The World — US Senator, Ted Cruz

Rotela Oguns

A US Senator, Ted Cruz, has claimed that Christians in Nigeria are killed for their faith more than others of the same religious persuasion across the globe.

Cruz described what’s happening in Africa’s most populous nation as “the mass murder” of Christians alleging that Nigerian officials are complicit in the unfortunate development.

The US legislator made this submission on Tuesday during foreign relations subcommittee hearing titled, ‘The US approach to counterterrorism in Africa’.

“Since 2009, Islamic jihadists have murdered more than 50,000 Christians in Nigeria and more than 20,000 churches, schools, and religious institutions have been destroyed, most burned to the ground,” he said.

“Nigerian officials had been, unfortunately, complicit in facilitating these atrocities.”

He blamed the implementation of Sharia law, applied in a dozen northern Nigerian states, as a driver of violence.

The senator added that the US government has identified complicit Nigerian officials at local and federal levels, and would hold them accountable.

Cruz also accused Nigerian authorities of slow-paced response to tackling the country’s security challenges.

“Last year, I met with a delegation of top Nigerian defence and security officials. They said they were committed to ending the violence,” he said.

“I told them I would judge their commitment by the results.

“Those results have yet to materialise.”

Recall that Cruz, who has been a vociferous critic of the Nigerian government’s approach to the sectarian related killings in the country, had earlier proposed “Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025”.

The US legislator is of the opinion that the legislation would hold Nigerian government officials accountable for “facilitating the mass murder of Christians”.