Fulani Militants Carrying Out “Genocidal Campaign” Against Christians In Nigeria; U.S. Congressman
Riley Moore, United States Republican Congressman has alleged that a wave of violent attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt amounts to a “genocidal campaign,” vowing to brief President Donald Trump after leading a high-risk Congressional delegation to Benue State.
Speaking on Fox News’ The Faulkner Focus, Moore said he and four other members of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee toured several Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Benue, travelling in armored vehicles due to worsening insecurity.
According to him, the delegation met with Catholic Bishops Wilfred Anagbe and Stephen Dugu, the Tor Tiv, and dozens of displaced victims, “all of whom are Christians.”
Moore claimed that Fulani militants he described as “Islamic radicals” were routinely attacking IDP camps and wiping out Christian communities.
He recounted meeting a woman who was forced to watch “five of her children murdered in front of her” by attackers.
“She was pregnant at the time and escaped. She had that baby at an IDP camp. Her soul had literally left her body,” he said.
In another case, Moore said that a woman’s unborn child was “cut out of her” after her husband and two daughters were killed during a separate attack.
The Congressman dismissed long-standing explanations that the violence stems from climate pressures, land competition, or economic rivalry, narratives often cited by researchers and Nigerian officials.
“If this is climate change, why burn a church? Why attack an IDP camp shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’?” he asked.
“They are trying to erase Christians from their ancestral homeland in Benue State and across Nigeria,” he insisted.
Moore disclosed that President Trump had directed him and House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole to prepare a detailed report recommending how the U.S. should engage Nigerian authorities on the crisis.
He said the Benue trip was a “fact-finding mission” to gather “ground truth,” with the report expected to be submitted before the end of the month.
He further insisted that the IDP camps were not the safe havens Nigerian authorities portray them to be. “These camps aren’t protected. People are terrified,” he said.
Moore’s claims underscore a longstanding controversy surrounding violence in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, where thousands have been killed over the years in clashes between farming communities and armed herders.
Rights groups accuse Nigerian authorities of downplaying atrocities and failing to prosecute offenders, while critics argue that foreign officials often oversimplify the conflict into a purely religious war.
Describing some of the harrowing moments from the trip, Moore explained that “many Christians are being murdered for their faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” adding that the delegation met with church leaders, Christian associations, and local communities.
