Nicki Minaj spoke on Christian persecution in Nigeria at the United Nations on Tuesday.
The Trinidadian, U.S.-based rapper convened the discussion at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York, joined by her pastor, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, victims of religious violence and regional experts. (RELATED: Democrats Explicitly Tell Spy Agencies, Military To Disobey Trump)
“In Nigeria, Christians are being targeted, driven from their homes and killed,” Minaj said. “Churches have been burned, families have been torn apart and entire communities live in fear constantly, simply because of how they pray.”
“I would like to thank @POTUS for prioritizing this issue and for his leadership on the global stage in calling for urgent action to defend Christians in Nigeria.” – @NICKIMINAJ pic.twitter.com/gi8bLtF1Qt
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) November 18, 2025
The rapper framed the issue as transcending Nigeria itself — not about choosing sides, but about “uniting humanity.” She closed by expressing hope their message would shake the UN’s “foundation” and force action on its “core mandate to ensure peace and security.”
Fox News host Harris Faulkner moderated the discussion, joined by Sean Nelson, senior counsel for ADF International; Sarah Makin, senior advisor to the president on international religious freedom; and Rev. Gabriel Makan, who called in from Nigeria.
Faulkner highlighted the young age of victims targeted by 22 radical Islamic terrorist groups and criticized what she called Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s inadequate response, warning that “the stakes are too high.”
Nelson said ADF International is supporting a Supreme Court case challenging the death penalty for blasphemy laws — including one where a young man faces execution for sharing blasphemous song lyrics via text. He described an “extreme rise” in deaths across northern Nigeria in recent years and recounted worshipping with victims and displaced families in burned-down churches.
“We need help,” Makan said, linking the terrorist groups to international organizations like ISIS. He called Tinubu’s inaction “unfortunate” and urged international intervention.
Makan pointed to Trump’s hardline stance on the issue, arguing the U.S. should pressure Nigeria with sanctions and leverage the 15 tools available under the Country of Particular Concern (CPC) designation.
MID SHOW CHECK-IN: @HARRISFAULKNER takes us BTS as she anchors LIVE from the United Nations 📺 pic.twitter.com/0pFr5GcdpY
— The Faulkner Focus (@FaulknerFocus) November 18, 2025
Trump’s designation of Nigeria as a CPC in early November prompted Minaj’s involvement. Responding to the decision, the rapper said it made her grateful to live in a country with religious freedom.
“Numerous countries all around the world are being affected by this horror & it’s dangerous to pretend we don’t notice,” Minaj wrote in a post that garnered over 50 million views. “Thank you to the president & his team for taking this seriously. God bless every persecuted Christian. Let’s remember to lift them up in prayer.”
Waltz responded by thanking her for raising awareness and inviting her to the UN to learn more about the administration’s efforts to protect Christian freedoms worldwide.
Minaj accepted, seeing her massive platform as divinely purposed. “There must be a bigger purpose,” she said.
Ambassador, I am so grateful to be entrusted with an opportunity of this magnitude. I do not take it for granted. It means more than you know.
The Barbz & I will never stand down in the face of injustice. We’ve been given our influence by God. There must be a bigger purpose. 🎀 https://t.co/Mdh0nBWwm1
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) November 17, 2025
Waltz spoke at the event as well. “Today we speak of blood, the blood that still cries from Nigerian soil,” he said.
Waltz detailed specific atrocities in Nigeria, including the kidnapping of 25 schoolgirls on Monday, the beheading of pastors for teaching the Sermon on the Mount, the burning of churches for singing Amazing Grace, and villages waking to gunfire for the “crime of calling Jesus their Lord.”
Twelve Muslim-majority Nigerian states have implemented sharia law, Waltz noted. Citing Open Doors, an NGO tracking Christian persecution, he said 80% of worldwide Christian violence is occurring in Nigeria.
Open Doors estimates 3,100 Nigerian Christians have been killed this year — the majority of the 4,476 Christians murdered globally.
Islamic extremist militants like Boko Haram have swept through northern Nigeria, killing men and sexually abusing women, according to Open Doors.
Nigerian Catholic Father Samuel Maria, who leads the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts Mission near the conflict zone, told the Daily Caller on Monday that Christians want American intervention urgently.
“We Christians prefer the Americans to come and come quickly, but the government is downplaying the genocidal reports, whereas kidnappings are going on,” Maria said. “The terrorists are everywhere, and living is just scary down here.”
