(LifeSiteNews) — Less than three weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to “wipe out” Islamic terrorists in Nigeria, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations is calling ongoing slaughter of Christians in the country a “genocide wearing the mask of chaos.”
“This is not random violence,” Mike Waltz said earlier today. “Nigeria is … a vibrant mosaic of cultures and faiths, but it is under siege.”
Waltz made the remarks on Tuesday during an event hosted by the United States Mission to the United Nations. It appears to be the first time a U.S. government official has used the term “genocide” to describe the situation in Nigeria, which is home to roughly 93 million Christians.
READ: Mainstream media continues to downplay attacks against Christians in Nigeria
President Trump previously referred to the situation in Nigeria as a “mass slaughter” while declaring it a “country of particular concern,” a designation reserved for governments who perpetrate or tolerate “particularly severe violations of religious freedom,” such as that of China, Pakistan, and North Korea.
Tuesday’s event lasted over an hour and featured an array of political commentators. Following Waltz’s address, best-selling rapper Nicki Minaj took to the podium to express her own concerns. She previously praised Trump’s social media posts condemning the killings.
On Thursday, November 20, the United States House of Representatives Subcommittee on Africa will hold its first hearings on the situation in Nigeria, at the urging of President Trump.
“We stand ready, willing, and able to save our Great Christian population around the World!” he said previously.
Many pundits expect that the committee will recommend sanctions and even military efforts.
During his remarks Tuesday, Waltz made note of the ongoing persecution that Christians in the country are facing.
“Jihadi groups like Boko Haram … continue to unleash targeted violence, it is targeted, it is specific on these Christian communities,” he explained while condemning the country’s leaders for failing “to curb these atrocities.”
A 2025 Global Christian Relief (GCR) Red List report found that Nigeria is the most dangerous place for Christians in the world. The report detailed how most of the killings in Nigeria occur in northern states governed by Islamic sharia law, where Christians “often live in remote villages in semi-arid landscapes, making them particularly vulnerable to attacks.”
The ongoing violence in the country has caught the attention of secular liberal critic Bill Maher.
“This is so much more of a genocide attempt than what is going on in Gaza. They are literally attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country,” he said while talking with GOP Congresswoman Nancy Mace on a recent program.
Persecution of Christians in Nigeria began to spike after 1999, when 12 northern states adopted Sharia law. The rise of the terrorist group Boko Haram in 2009 marked a dramatic escalation in the attacks. Famously, the group kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls in 2014; 87 of them are still listed as “missing.”
From 2009 to 2022, over 50,000 Christians were killed in the country, an Open Doors study discovered. A 2024 report found that more than 8,000 Nigerian Christians were killed and thousands more were abducted in 2023, making it the bloodiest year on record for Islamic attacks against Christians in the country.
Recent attacks in the country have seen the abduction and even murder of Catholic priests and seminarians. In a July press release, the Diocese of Auchi in Edo State reported that several gunmen attacked the Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary, killing one security guard and kidnapping three seminarians. The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law reported in spring 2023 that over 50,000 have been killed in the country for their Christian faith since 2009.
READ: A global war on Christianity is unfolding
Stunningly, during a keynote address for an event held at the Vatican last month, the current Secretary of State Pietro Parolin diminished the influence that Islam has played in the attacks.
The violence is “not a religious conflict, but rather more a social one, for example, disputes between herders and farmers. We should also recognize that many Muslims in Nigeria are themselves victims of this same intolerance,” he claimed.
Parolin also argued that “these are extremist groups that make no distinctions in pursuing their goals. They use violence against anyone they see as an opponent.”
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, who served as Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria from 1992 until 1998, denounced Parolin’s remarks.
“The shameful words of Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin on the alleged ‘social conflict’ in Nigeria misrepresent the reality of a ferocious and genocidal persecution against Catholics, martyred while Rome rambles on about synodality and inclusiveness,” His Excellency remarked.
“No, Your Eminence: Nigerian Catholics are being killed in hatred of the Faith they profess, by Muslims and in obedience to the Koran. Those same Muslims who are transforming your churches into mosques, with your cowardly and courtesan complicity, and who will soon overthrow governments to impose Sharia law on the ‘infidels,’” Viganò continued.
Findings published by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) highlight many of the state-sponsored attacks on Christians in the country. In its 2025 report, the USCIRF urged the U.S. government to designate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern.” It also noted that “the Nigerian government remains slow or, at times, appears unwilling to respond to this violence, creating an environment of impunity for the attackers.”
