REP. MARLIN STUTZMAN: No Silent Night For Nigeria’s Persecuted Christians

For over 15 years, the world looked away while Christians in Nigeria were slaughtered. The numbers tell the story of a widespread killing campaign: over 50,000 Christians murdered by Islamist extremists since 2009. This year alone, at least 7,000 have been killed, averaging 35 deaths per day. Another 7,800 were kidnapped in just the first seven months of 2025.

More Christians are killed for their faith in Nigeria than in the rest of the world combined. Yet the international community has spent years dismissing this systematic extermination as tribal conflict or resource disputes, anything to avoid acknowledging the truth: This is religious persecution, pure and simple.

What international institutions dismissed as tribal disputes, what previous administrations ignored as regional conflict, can no longer be denied for what it is: deliberate annihilation. President Trump has responded decisively, designating Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern and directing Congress to investigate the massacres. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz took the fight to the world stage with an unexpected ally. When superstar Nicki Minaj spoke at a United Nations event, her 200 million followers heard a message the establishment had tried to bury: “No group should ever be persecuted for practicing their religion.” (RELATED: Nicki Minaj Delivers Impassioned Defense Of Christians At UN)

It took conservatives in Congress, religious freedom advocates, and yes, a Grammy-nominated rapper to force the world to confront what liberal administrations and international institutions have ignored for over a decade.

This Christmas, while over 200 million Americans gather in safety to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Nigerian Christians face a starkly different reality. Boko Haram and allied militants continue their systematic campaign: kidnapping children from Christian schools, executing pastors and church leaders, burning churches during services, and destroying entire villages in coordinated attacks that have killed thousands and displaced millions.

The pattern reveals the true purpose. The European Union (EU) documented it clearly: “Boko Haram is a Salafi-jihadist group fighting for the replacement of the secular Nigerian state with an Islamic one based on strict compliance to Sharia law.” The timing of attacks during Easter and Christmas, the targeting of religious leaders, the seizure of children wearing crosses—this is not tribal conflict. This is systematic religious cleansing.

Last month, hundreds of schoolchildren were kidnapped. The world barely noticed. That indifference must end.

The path forward requires action at every level. Americans must lift these persecuted believers in prayer, remembering Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Prayer is not passive. It is the foundation for action.

We must demand accountability from the Nigerian government. This campaign of eradication persisted because too many stayed silent. The Biden administration removed Nigeria from the religious freedom watchlist in 2021, turning its back on the persecuted. That moral failure cannot be repeated. President Trump expects tangible steps to protect Christian communities, making clear that continued violence will not be tolerated. Congress must follow through with a legislative response that matches the scale of the atrocity. (RELATED: Islamic Extremists Prepare To Slaughter Hundreds On Christmas, Local Intel Warns)

My Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act transforms diplomatic pressure into economic pain. It sanctions Nigerian officials who enforce Sharia law and facilitate attacks, codifies Nigeria’s pariah status as a Country of Particular Concern, and permanently designates Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa as terror entities. The message is clear: protect Christians or lose American support.

Edmund Burke warned that evil triumphs when good men do nothing. For fifteen years, we did nothing while 50,000 Christians were slaughtered. That ends now. Not with hand-wringing or empty speeches, but with actions that have consequences.

This Christmas, as you gather with loved ones in safety, remember those who cannot. Remember the Nigerian Christians who will pray in fear, who will shield their children from violence, who will wonder if this Christmas is their last. The angel’s proclamation promised “good news of great joy for all people”—that promise should include them.

Pray for Nigeria’s Christians. Support the groups defending them. America unequivocally stands against those who slaughter them.

Rep. Marlin Stutzman represents Indiana’s 3rd District.