Save the Persecuted Christians (STPC) calls for accountability and intervention in the ongoing persecution and genocide of Christians in Nigeria, drawing from recent remarks by President Dede Laugesen at key events in Washington, D.C.
Speaking at a Capitol Hill press conference on September 3 and the International Religious Freedom Roundtable on September 29, Laugesen emphasized the need for the U.S. to redesignate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), designate terrorist entities including the Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM), and scrutinize arms sales amid widespread human rights abuses.
In her remarks, Laugesen drew parallels between the sparse media coverage of Nigeria’s Christian genocide and historical underreporting of the Holocaust, noting that “the ongoing genocide of Christians in Nigeria receives the same disjointed, sparse, manipulated and propagandized coverage in international mainstream media.” She highlighted how Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorism in northern Nigeria often overshadows the systematic attacks by radicalized Muslim Fulani militias in the Middle Belt states of Plateau, Benue, and Southern Kaduna.
Laugesen pointed to recent atrocities, including the June 2025 massacre in Yelewata, Benue State; the “Black Christmas” attacks in December 2023, which killed hundreds over the holiday period in Plateau State; and subsequent violence in April and June 2024 that claimed over 400 lives in Plateau and Benue states. “Fulani militia attacks on Christian farming communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, very similar to what happened in Israel on October 7th, 2023, happen daily across the Middle Belt,” she stated. Despite advance warnings, Nigerian security forces have been slow or absent in response, raising concerns of complicity.
A critical revelation from coalition partners like TruthNigeria.com involves Fulani-operated hostage camps in dense forests near military installations, where hundreds—if not thousands—of mostly Christian victims are tortured, starved, and murdered. “It is absurd to think the Nigerian military is unaware, yet nothing has been done to clear these Fulani-operated hostage camps and save the victims,” Laugesen said at the Roundtable. She urged global media to amplify these stories with the same urgency as conflicts in Ukraine or Israel, questioning, “Do Black African Christians merit any less attention? Do the women and children of Nigeria matter to Western media?”
Laugesen welcomed Senator Ted Cruz’s Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, introduced on September 11, which aims to sanction Nigerian officials facilitating jihadist violence and redesignate Nigeria as a CPC while naming Boko Haram and ISWAP as Entities of Particular Concern (EPCs). However, she stressed the bill’s omission of the FEM, responsible for 47% of the 62,000+ Christian deaths in Nigeria over the past 25 years, according to reports from Open Doors and International Christian Concern. “Unless and until the United States recognizes the Fulani Ethnic Militia as an entity of particular concern, nothing will improve for the Christians of Nigeria,” she asserted, calling for amendments to include the FEM and restrictions on U.S. arms sales totaling over $1.3 billion since 2022.
The attacks, often occurring during Christian festivals or farming seasons, involve nighttime raids with rifles, machetes, and arson, accompanied by shouts of “Allahu Akbar.” Villages are destroyed, farmlands are occupied for grazing, and communities are displaced—136 in Plateau State alone in 2025, with 79 fully deserted. Laugesen criticized the Nigerian government’s inaction, including arrests of Christian protesters while militias operate with impunity, and noted threats to brave journalists reporting the truth.
“The genocide of Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt will not end until the international community and the Nigerian government are compelled to address the Fulani Ethnic Militia and their parallel jihad operating with great effect in tandem with Boko Haram and ISWAP,” Laugesen concluded. STPC calls on the Trump administration, Congress, and media to prioritize this crisis, liberate the hostage camps, expose corrupt benefactors, and ensure U.S. policies do not inadvertently fund the violence.
Save the Persecuted Christians (STPC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for persecuted Christians worldwide, with a focus on Nigeria since 2018. Through education, advocacy, and coalition-building, STPC works to raise awareness and push for policy changes to protect religious freedoms and hold perpetrators accountable. Dede Laugesen, who previously served as executive director, was promoted to president on September 10, 2025.
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