American Fact-Finding Mission Confirms Genocide of Christians in Nigeria, as Lawmakers Raise Alarm
Independent U.S. investigators confirm "calculated genocide" occurring in the country, as Senator Ted Cruz and Rep. Riley Moore push for sanctions and "country of concern" designation
An independent American fact-finding team has confirmed that the mass slaughter of Christians in Nigeria constitutes a genocide. The findings come amid escalating congressional concern, as Senator Ted Cruz has introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, and Representative Riley Moore urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to designate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” for religious freedom violations.
The independent American fact-finding mission, ironically commissioned by the Nigerian government itself to counter genocide allegations, released its findings on October 14, 2025, following years of research across multiple Nigerian states.
The Independent American Fact-Finding Investigation
Retired Mayor Mike Arnold of Blanco, Texas, led the U.S. fact-finding delegation which included Jeff Gibbs and Pastor Jed D’Grace. They were invited by Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and presidential aide, Reno Omokri, to investigate allegations of genocide and persecution against Christians.
Arnold’s investigation was conducted with the knowledge of the U.S. government. In a formal statement discussing the delegation’s findings, Arnold explained: “Numerous top US officials have been briefed and are personally aware of my being here, the purpose of my trip, my specific itinerary, and expected return date. At their request, I am providing updates as to my status. These include but are not limited to my Senator from Texas, Ted Cruz, and Congressman Chip Roy, the White House, US State Department and Acting Ambassador, as well as a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist from the New York Times, and their International Editor.”
The team toured multiple states, visited internally displaced persons camps, and met both Christian and Muslim leaders over the course of five years. Arnold emphasized his independence despite the Nigerian government funding his travel and accommodations: “I have not asked for, or been offered, nor received any compensation or promise of compensation for this trip. Neither am I connected in any way or compensated by the U.S. Government.”
Arnold’s conclusion invoked the 1948 UN Convention on Genocide: “After five years of investigation, I can say: The campaign of violence and displacement in northern and middle belt Nigeria does indeed constitute a calculated, current and long-running genocide against Christian communities and other religious minorities without any reasonable doubt.” His full statement can be read here.
The investigator identified three interlocking drivers of the genocide: radical Islamist conquest, illicit mineral mining, and politically motivated demographic re-engineering. Arnold rejected attempts to characterize the violence as resource disputes: “For centuries, herders and farmers co-existed with rare, very rarely lethal disputes. Now villages are systematically razed, churches leveled, and tens of thousands are dead. This is systematic terror and not grazing conflicts. A lie akin to calling Bosnia’s ethnic cleansing a neighborhood spat.”
Arnold warned against denial: “To continue to deny this is to be complicit in these atrocities. I say this not in anger, but in truth and grief.”
After Arnold confirmed the genocide, presidential aide Reno Omokri claimed the investigation had “debunked” the allegations. Arnold responded: “Sleazy Omokri, a pathological liar, will go down in history as the Joseph Goebbels of the Nigerian Christian Genocide.”
Intersociety: Years of Documentation Vindicated
The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (InterSociety) said it has been “fully vindicated” by the American fact-finding mission’s findings. The Nigerian human rights organization noted that the American team, which was “procured by the Nigerian government itself,” refused to compromise its integrity and instead exposed the scale of religious violence.
InterSociety, headquartered in Onitsha and led by criminologist and Human Rights advocate, Emeka Umeagbalasi, has documented Christian persecution in Nigeria since 2010. Their recent report on the devastation reveals that 185,009 people have been killed in religiously motivated violence since 2009.
In the first 220 days of 2025 alone, Intersociety documented 7,087 Christians killed—an average of 32 per day, or one Christian murdered every hour. During the same period, 7,800 Christians were abducted, averaging 35 kidnappings per day or two per hour.
The destruction extends beyond human casualties. Intersociety reports that 19,100 churches have been destroyed, 2,200 Christian schools burned, and 1,100 Christian communities completely eradicated since 2009. Militants have seized approximately 20,000 square miles of land previously occupied by Christian communities.
The displacement crisis is staggering: 12 million Christians have been displaced from their ancestral lands, with 8 million forced to flee their homes and 5 million living in internally displaced persons camps. In the opening of their findings, InterSociety states:
“22 Islamic Terror Groups In Africa Seeking To Obliterate Christianity And Indigenous Cultural Heritage And Impose Sultanate [an Islamic Caliphate] In Nigeria By 2075.”
The Perpetrators and Their Objectives
Out of the 22 groups referenced by InterSociety, the following are among the main perpetrators responsible for the killing of Christians in Nigeria:
Boko Haram, which means “Western education is a sin,” emerged in 2002 with the explicit goal of establishing an Islamic state in Nigeria and implementing Sharia law nationwide. The group has killed tens of thousands and kidnapped thousands more, including the infamous 2014 abduction of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok. Boko Haram’s ideology rejects democratic governance and seeks to replace Nigeria’s secular constitution with strict Islamic rule. The group conducts suicide bombings, mass executions, and village raids targeting Christian communities.
Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) split from Boko Haram in 2016 with the goal of establishing an ISIS caliphate across West Africa, uniting with ISIS. With thousands of fighters, ISWAP controls a pseudo-state in northeastern Nigeria, earning $191 Million from taxes in the region, and conducts sophisticated military operations against both civilian and military targets. The group explicitly targets Christians for execution and enslavement, viewing them as legitimate spoils of war under their interpretation of Islamic law.
Jihadist Fulani Militants are responsible for 87% of Christian deaths in 2025 according to InterSociety. While traditionally nomadic herders, radicalized Fulani groups have been weaponized for systematic displacement campaigns. These militants operate with apparent impunity, destroying Christian villages, churches, and farmland while seizing territory for permanent settlement.
In June 2020, Boko Haram, ISWAP, and multiple affiliated groups announced the formation of an “Alliance for Jihad in Nigeria,” coordinating attacks across the country. Twelve Nigerian states have already implemented Sharia law, providing a legal framework that militants seek to expand nationwide through force.
InterSociety projects that at current rates of territorial conquest and Christian elimination, Northern Nigeria could be entirely cleansed of Christians within 50 years. The documented goals of Boko Haram and ISWAP to establish an Islamic state and implement Sharia law nationwide align with this trajectory.
The Spread of Radical Islam and the Global Implications
The Nigerian genocide reflects a wider surge of radical Islamist expansion across Africa and the Middle East. Like Hamas in Gaza and ISIS in Syria and Iraq, Nigerian jihadist factions aim to impose strict Sharia rule, eliminate religious minorities, and dismantle secular governance.
The pattern is clear: mass killings, church burnings, kidnappings, sexual enslavement, and rejection of international law. Yet Nigeria’s scale — over 125,000 Christians killed since 2009 — stands out amid global silence.
InterSociety warns that if Africa’s largest economy collapses under jihadist pressure, “the consequences will spread beyond Africa to Europe, America, and Asia.” The country’s strategic position in West Africa makes it a critical bulwark against further jihadist expansion across the continent.
Bethlehem was once 87% Christian and 13% Muslim. After a few decades, it’s reversed. The narrative birthplace of Jesus is now 13% Christian and 87% Muslim. Some is that Christians we’re harassed into leaving. Some has to do with the far greater freedom of Arab Christian women to determine their lives, and some just wanted to get away from the hostility and begin their lives elsewhere. Arab Christian women are FAR more likely to be educated and have professions. As the Muslim population grew apace, many Christians just saw better conditions in Israel, other West Bank areas and elsewhere.