\n John Joseph Hayab, a pastor who leads the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the country\u2019s northern region, where attacks by Islamist groups are prevalent, told CNN that he agrees with Trump\u2019s claim of \u201csystematic killings of Christians\u201d in that area. However, he added, \u201cthere has been a little shift in the last two years,\u201d with the scale of the killings reducing.\n <\/p>\n
\n Hayab said he had presided over numerous mass burials of slain Christians, stating that \u201cevery state in northern Nigeria has suffered its own terrible share of killings targeting Christians.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n He urged the Nigerian government to acknowledge the issue and take measures to correct the killings rather than deny them.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe have raised this matter dozens of times, but nobody hears us,\u201d he claimed, acknowledging the role of US Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in bringing attention to reports of alleged Christian persecution in Nigeria.\n <\/p>\n
\n In August, the Republican senator introduced a bill<\/a> calling for sanctions against Nigeria for purported violations of religious freedom.\n <\/p>\n \n Some analysts argue that while Christians have been targeted by Boko Haram and other Islamist groups seeking to impose their extreme interpretation of Islamic law, Muslims, including those considered moderate, have also been victims of those groups.\n <\/p>\n \n Bulama Bukarti, a Nigerian human rights advocate specializing in security and development, disputed Trump\u2019s comments, telling CNN that they \u201creflect a dangerous oversimplification of Nigeria\u2019s complex security crisis.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n He stated: \u201cThe claim that there is a \u2018mass slaughter of Christians\u2019 by \u2018Islamic radicals\u2019 distorts the reality on the ground and risks deepening divisions in a country already under immense strain.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Northern Nigeria has witnessed horrific killings targeting religious groups this year. In April, gunmen believed to be Muslim herders, killed at least 40 people<\/a>, including children, in a predominantly Christian farming village, the Associated Press reported.\n <\/p>\n \n Two months later, more than 100 people were massacred by attackers in Yelwata, a largely Christian community in Benue state, also in the north-central, according<\/a> to Amnesty International.\n <\/p>\n \n Pope Leo XIV offered prayers for the victims of the Yelwata attack, many of whom were \u201cinternally displaced persons sheltered by a local Catholic mission,\u201d a Vatican news report<\/a> said.\n <\/p>\n \n Outside the northern region, such targeted killings are rare. A a mass shooting at a church in Owo<\/a>, a community in southwestern Nigeria, left dozens dead in 2022. Court filings seen by Reuters<\/a> linked the suspects in the Owo massacre to al-Shabaab, a militant group affiliated with al-Qaeda operating in East Africa.\n <\/p>\n \n Muslims have also been victims of targeted killings this year. In August, at least 50 worshippers were killed<\/a> \u2014 some shot, others burned alive \u2014 when gunmen attacked a mosque in the north-western Katsina State, Reuters reported.\n <\/p>\n \n Many similarly brutal attacks have been carried out in Muslim communities by Boko Haram and other armed groups in Nigeria\u2019s predominantly Muslim north.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cYes, these (extremist) groups have sadly killed many Christians. However, they have also massacred tens of thousands of Muslims,\u201d Bukarti said. He noted that \u201cthe groups\u2019 attacks on other civilian locations such as markets, bus stops and refugee camps (disproportionately) harm Muslims,\u201d as the states where the radical groups operate are predominantly Muslim.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cMr. Trump\u2019s rhetoric (suggesting a mass slaughter of Christians) not only misinforms the international community but also risks fuelling extremist propaganda and undermining local efforts to build peace,\u201d he added.\n <\/p>\n \n Claims that Christians are being disproportionately targeted by extremists in Nigeria are not supported by what little data is available.\n <\/p>\n \n Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, a crisis-monitoring group, reported<\/a> that more than 20,400 civilians were killed in attacks in Nigeria between January 2020 and September of this year. Among those casualties, 317 deaths were attributed to attacks targeting Christians, while 417 deaths were reported among Muslims, though the organization did not include the religious affiliation of the vast majority of the civilians killed.\n <\/p>\n \n Security analyst Nnamdi Obasi, a senior adviser at the International Crisis Group think tank, explained that while extremist groups have wreaked havoc against both Christians and Muslims in the northeast of Nigeria, bandit groups have terrorized predominantly Muslim communities in the northwest. Additionally, predominantly Christian farming communities in parts of the North Central zone have suffered persistent violence from armed groups.\n <\/p>\n \n However, \u201cin most parts of the country, Christians and Muslims live peacefully with each other,\u201d he said. \u201cReports of widespread persecution and mass slaughter of Christians are seriously misread and exaggerate the challenges of interfaith relations in the country.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Ken Eluma Asogwa, a spokesperson for the opposition Labour Party, told CNN that \u201ceven though the government of Nigeria has been lackluster and shambolic in its approach to the protection of its citizens from murderous non-state actors operating under different aliases, there is no evidence to support Trump\u2019s claims that Christians are particularly targeted for extermination.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n On Friday, Trump designated Nigeria a \u201cCountry of Particular Concern\u201d under the US International Religious Freedom Act<\/a>. The label is a suggestion that his administration has found that Nigeria has engaged in or tolerated \u201csystematic, ongoing, (and) egregious violations of religious freedom.\u201d\n <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/10-2025-06-17t145929z-37595344-rc2r3fapjqew-rtrmadp-3-nigeria-security.JPG\")
<\/p>\n![\"Personal](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/11-ap22157580666940.JPG\")
<\/p>\n
![\"Nigeria's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/12-2025-08-25t142610z-1099624632-rc2dega78zmf-rtrmadp-3-brazil-nigeria.JPG\")
<\/p>\n