Why I Am Catholic: The Genocide of Christians in Nigeria — and the Media’s Deafening Silence

Monday, November 10, 2025

The Genocide of Christians in Nigeria — and the Media’s Deafening Silence

For decades now, Christians in Nigeria have been slaughtered, burned out of their villages, driven from their homes, and silenced in their own country. Entire communities—men, women, children—have been massacred by jihadist militias like Boko Haram, ISWAP, and extremist Fulani militias. Churches have been torched, priests kidnapped, and Christian farmers hunted down in what many advocacy groups rightly call a genocide.

Yet the mainstream press continues to downplay it. If they mention it at all, they frame it as just another “social conflict” or “ethnic tension”—never as the systematic extermination of Christians that so many eyewitnesses and human-rights observers have been documenting for years.

A Crisis Long Ignored

Groups like Genocide Watch, the International Committee on Nigeria, and Open Doors USA have tracked this violence for more than two decades. Some estimates say over 60,000 Christians have been killed since 2000. I’ve followed these numbers for years, and every new report hits like a gut punch—more names, more villages, more families erased. And yet… no headlines.

For years, Christian activists and even secular human-rights advocates begged the international community to acknowledge this as genocide. They held press conferences, issued reports, and even testified before Congress. But their words rarely broke through. The Western media yawned. The U.N. said little. The Nigerian government denied there was any religious motive.

Now Trump Speaks—And Suddenly the Media Cares (But Not How You’d Expect)

Fast-forward to November 2025. President Donald Trump speaks out about Nigeria, calling it what it is—a genocide—and even warning that the U.S. might use “air strikes or troops on the ground” if the killings continue. His remarks made international headlines overnight.

Finally, I thought, maybe this will push the issue into the spotlight. Maybe the global media will start connecting the dots.

Instead, what happened? The same outlets that ignored the story for years suddenly rushed to downplay it—mocking Trump’s statement, framing it as political theater, or spinning it as “an overreaction.”

You can almost set your watch by it: if Trump says the world is round, they’ll swear it’s flat. If he says the sky is blue, they’ll insist it’s red. So now that Trump has finally recognized what Christians in Nigeria have been enduring for decades, the media—true to its partisan, contrarian nature—has to relativize it or ignore it altogether.

The Pattern of Media Contrarianism

Let’s be honest. Much of the mainstream press today is not about truth—it’s about tribal loyalty. Their opposition to Trump runs so deep that if he highlights a genuine humanitarian crisis, they feel compelled to contradict him, even at the expense of the victims themselves.

It’s the same pattern we’ve seen on countless issues: the facts don’t matter as much as who is saying them. And that’s what makes this particular case so tragic. Real people—real Christians—are dying. Villages are burning. Churches are reduced to ash. But because Trump is the one talking about it, the story becomes radioactive to the very media that should be amplifying it.

The Facts on the Ground

This isn’t about partisanship or politics. It’s about human lives.

Boko Haram continues to target Christians, bombing churches and killing villagers in northern Nigeria.
Fulani militants raid Christian farming communities, destroying crops and homes.
Tens of thousands have fled to neighboring countries or internal camps.
Satellite images show widespread destruction in predominantly Christian areas like Benue, Plateau, and Kaduna states.

Even if you set aside the question of whether it meets the U.N.’s strict legal definition of “genocide,” the pattern is unmistakable: Christians are being singled out because of their faith.

The Nigerian Government’s Denial

To its credit, Nigeria’s government admits there’s violence—but it refuses to call it religious. Officials keep saying it’s just a farmer–herder conflict or a “security problem.” But if this were just about grazing land, why are churches being targeted? Why are priests and seminarians being kidnapped and executed? Why are Christian villages disproportionately burned to the ground?

These are not isolated crimes. They are coordinated campaigns of terror.

The Responsibility of the World

When a leader finally uses the word “genocide,” the world should pause. It should spark investigation, outrage, and action. But instead, it sparks political spin and editorial silence. The truth gets buried under partisan reflex.

It shouldn’t matter whether the messenger is Trump, Biden, or anyone else—what matters is the message. Christians in Nigeria are dying, and the world is looking away.

We owe it to them—and to our own conscience—to break that silence.

What Needs to Happen Next

Global Acknowledgment. The U.S., the U.N., and the African Union must call this what it is: an organized campaign of extermination targeting a faith community.
Independent Investigation. International human-rights monitors must gather hard data—names, dates, perpetrators—before the evidence disappears.
Pressure on Nigeria. Sanctions, aid conditions, and diplomatic pressure should demand that the Nigerian government protect all its citizens, regardless of faith.
Media Accountability. Journalists must rediscover courage and cover uncomfortable truths even when it doesn’t fit their political script.
Public Awareness. Those of us who care must speak up, share these stories, and refuse to let the victims be forgotten.

My Perspective: Why I’m Writing This

I’m not Nigerian. I’m a registered Republican and a Trump supporter, but this isn’t about partisanship or politics. It’s about truth, human life, and faith. I’m a Christian—and I believe silence in the face of persecution is complicity.

For years, I watched Western media bend over backwards to cover every controversy that fit their narrative while ignoring this one. And now that someone like Trump has dared to shine a light on it, they’re scrambling to put the lid back on.

That’s not journalism. That’s propaganda.

If you really care about human rights—if you care about truth—you can’t selectively report injustice based on who points it out.

It’s time to break the silence. It’s time to call this what it is: a genocide. And it’s time for the world to stand with our Christian brothers and sisters in Nigeria before more of them are wiped from the earth.

“Silence in the face of evil,” Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote, “is itself evil.”
That silence must end.

Why I Am Catholic

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Why I Am Catholic:

Monday, November 10, 2025

The Genocide of Christians in Nigeria — and the Media’s Deafening Silence

The Genocide of Christians in Nigeria — and the Media’s Deafening Silence

A Crisis Long Ignored

Now Trump Speaks—And Suddenly the Media Cares (But Not How You’d Expect)

The Pattern of Media Contrarianism

The Facts on the Ground

The Nigerian Government’s Denial

The Responsibility of the World

What Needs to Happen Next

My Perspective: Why I’m Writing This

Further Reading & Resources

🔗 Hyperlink List (for blog insertion)

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