By Muhammad Mamman
U.S. Representative Riley Moore has warned Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that the world is watching—and urged the U.S. to act unless Nigeria takes decisive steps to halt what he describes as grave religious-rights violations.
Moore, who represents West Virginia’s 2nd District, penned a letter dated 6 October 2025 to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in which he urged the United States to designate Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act. He claimed that Nigeria “has become the deadliest place in the world to be a Christian,” citing figures of more than 7,000 Christian deaths in 2025 alone, an average of roughly 35 per day.
According to Moore, the scale of the attacks is alarming: he referenced over 19,000 church attacks or destructions since 2009 and alleged that extremist groups such as Boko Haram, ISIS‑West Africa and Ansaru are involved, while even suggesting that corrupt elements within the Nigerian government may be complicit.
Moore called for immediate action: the letter demands the suspension of arms sales and technical support to Nigeria until the government can demonstrate a “genuine commitment” to stopping the violence.
On the other side, the Nigerian government swiftly rejected the allegations, describing them as misinformed and politically motivated. A spokesman for the Presidency labelled Moore’s claims as a “propaganda campaign” and insisted that Nigeria does not target any faith in particular.
Meanwhile, Nigerians both at home and abroad are urging caution. As one commentator put it, while the violence is real, conflating it all as “Christian genocide” risks inflaming religious tensions in an already fragile security environment.
