Texas Senator Ted Cruz has launched a sharp confrontation against the Nigerian government, condemning what he calls the mass slaughter of Christians and pledging to hold Nigerian officials accountable.
The officials say Sen. Cruz is lying.
Since 2009, over 50,000 Christians in Nigeria have been massacred, and over 18,000 churches and 2,000 Christian schools have been destroyed.
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) October 7, 2025
It is the result of decisions made by specific people, in specific places, at specific times—and it says a great deal about who is… pic.twitter.com/QXuuaaqOfE
According to international Christian advocacy group Open Doors International’s 2025 World Watch List (WWL), Nigeria is one of the most dangerous places to be a Christian, despite 48 percent of their population identifying as such. Of the 4,476 Christians killed worldwide, 69 percent were in Nigeria.
On Saturday, a spokesperson for Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu told a local newspaper that Cruz should “stop spreading malicious and fabricated lies.”
Sen. Cruz, the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy, in response, told Fox News Digital, "Nigeria’s federal government and a dozen state governments enforce blasphemy laws in their criminal and sharia codes, and they ignore or facilitate mob violence targeting Christians."
On Friday, the Nigerian minister of information, Mohammed Idris, rejected Cruz's claims, telling Fox News Digital, "The Nigerian government rejects that. This is certainly not true."
Cruz responded, saying that the killings "are the result of decisions made by specific people, in specific places, at specific times. The United States knows who those people are, and I intend to hold them accountable."
"Since 2009, over 50,000 Christians in Nigeria have been massacred, and over 20,000 churches and Christian schools have been destroyed. These atrocities are directly linked to the policies of Nigerian federal and state officials. They are the result of decisions made by specific people, in specific places, at specific times – and it says a great deal about who is lashing out now that a light is being shone on these issues."
Idris, in response to an X post from Sen. Cruz on Friday, said that his comments are "very misleading. This is not true. This is not the reflection of what is on the ground. I mean it's false where you say over 20,000 churches have been burned. It's also false if you say 52,000 (Christians killed), where did he get those numbers from? I think this is absolutely absurd. It's not supported by any facts whatsoever. The Nigerian government rejects that. No Nigerian officials will willingly, deliberately indulge in the act of siding with violent extremists to target any particular religion in this country. This is absolutely false."
"Nigeria is a multi-faith country," Idris continued. "Meaning that it's a country that has multiple religions. We have Christians, we have Muslims, we even have those who don't believe in any of these two religions. Nigeria is a very tolerant country. The government of Nigeria is committed to ensuring that there is religious freedom in this country, but we do have extremist organizations in this country."
Open Doors’ senior team member, Natalie Blair, says independent data from Nigeria shows "Christians can be targeted by radical extremists, and radical extremists can also kill Muslims who do not conform to their radical ideology. Boko Haram and ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province) have explicitly and repeatedly declared Christians as targets. And many victims have told us that when Fulani militants attack they don’t just shout ‘Allahu Akbar,’ (God is Great), they yell, ‘We will destroy all Christians.’"
"According to the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa, data of civilians killed – exempting out the military and terrorist deaths – in northern Nigeria is unequivocal: more Christians are killed by the extremists than Muslims – if you are a Christian you are 6.5 times more likely to be killed than a Muslim. This does not make the suffering of a Muslim less significant, it just makes it less likely," she continued.