A five-member US congressional team wrapped up a fact-finding trip to Nigeria on Thursday, probing alleged genocide against Christians amid rising violence. Led by Congressman Riley Moore, the group visited displaced persons camps, attack survivors, Christian communities, bishops, and traditional leaders in Benue State. They also sat down with National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu and Attorney General Lateef Fagbemi in a bid to uncover the truth behind the bloodshed.
The delegation roamed Benue in armoured vehicles due to grave dangers, hearing gut-wrenching tales from victims that left Moore reeling. One woman recounted watching five children slaughtered before her eyes while pregnant; she fled and gave birth in a camp, her spirit shattered beyond repair. Another survivor lost her husband, two daughters, and unborn child in a brutal raid, their stories painting a picture of targeted horror that spares no one, not even those already uprooted.
Moore, speaking on Fox News with anchor Harris Faulkner, branded the accounts the most harrowing of his career. “It was really shocking — the stories we heard, the imagery. I have never witnessed anything like that in my life,” he said. He dismissed excuses like climate woes or land rows, pointing to torched churches and cries of ‘Allahu Akbar’ during assaults on camps as proof of deliberate faith-based erasure.
Benue, one of Nigeria’s deadliest spots, sees its Christian majority gunned down for their beliefs, Moore charged. The attackers, he added, aim to wipe believers from their ancestral lands. President Donald Trump dispatched Moore and House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole to deliver a full report by month’s end, complete with recommendations to tackle the crisis.
The mission followed Trump’s late October label of Nigeria as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ for religious freedom abuses. Nigerian officials push back hard, insisting the unrest stems from no single creed. As families bury loved ones and huddle in fear, the looming briefing spotlights a human tragedy demanding urgent global resolve.
