US Senator Warns Nigerian Officials Over Christian Persecution

United States Senator Ted Cruz has accused Nigerian government officials of creating conditions that enable the killing of Christians, warning that Washington has identified those responsible and possesses the tools to sanction them.

The Texas senator made the remarks on Tuesday via his X account, reacting to a deadly attack on the Angwan Rukuba community in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State. The incident occurred on Palm Sunday, March 29, and claimed multiple lives.

“Nigerian government officials have created an environment in which Christians are routinely persecuted and slaughtered, by imposing sharia law and looking the other way at violence,” Cruz wrote. “Those officials should know that the U.S. knows who they are, and has the tools to hold them accountable.”

The Plateau State Police Command initially reported that gunmen struck the community at about 8:30 p.m. on Sunday. Governor Caleb Mutfwang, in a state broadcast on Tuesday, put the death toll at 28, describing the victims as law-abiding citizens going about their normal activities.

The governor announced that a suspect who had earlier issued threats against the peace of the state had been apprehended, vowing that all those involved would be prosecuted. He also declared that the state government would cover medical expenses for the injured and ensure dignified burials for the deceased.

In response to the attack, a 48-hour curfew was imposed on Jos North Local Government Area, running from midnight on March 29 to April 1, 2026, with additional security personnel deployed to restore order.

The incident has also drawn criticism from American humanitarian Alex Barbir, leader of the Building Zion missionary group. In a video posted on X, Barbir challenged President Bola Tinubu over what he described as government inaction, speaking directly from Plateau State.

“They just murdered over 10 people. Innocent Christians on Palm Sunday. Tinubu, where are you as your people are slaughtered in the night?” Barbir said, adding that the violence had continued unchecked.

Sunday’s attack is the latest in a series of incidents that have strained diplomatic relations between Washington and Abuja over the treatment of Christian communities in Nigeria.

In October 2025, President Donald Trump designated Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern,” citing threats against Christians and warning of potential consequences, including the suspension of assistance. The Federal Government rejected the designation, with officials maintaining that Nigeria faces terrorism driven by criminality, not religious persecution.

The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, later led a delegation to Washington to engage US lawmakers, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefed the diplomatic corps in Abuja, clarifying that Nigeria’s legal framework contains no offence of blasphemy at the federal level and that Sharia law applies only to Muslims in northern states under the oversight of the secular judiciary.

President Tinubu, in December 2025, dismissed the persecution narrative as false, stating that the country is battling terrorism and criminality rather than religiously motivated genocide.