The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has commended former United States President Donald Trump for drawing renewed global attention to what it described as the systematic killing of Christians in Nigeria, while accusing the Federal Government of denying the reality of an ongoing genocide.
The group said Trump’s latest message on Friday, in which he reaffirmed support for persecuted Christians worldwide and cited Nigeria as one of the worst-affected nations, reflects rising international concern over religiously motivated violence and official inaction.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Saturday and signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA described Trump’s comments as a timely and courageous intervention that validates years of advocacy by human rights groups documenting mass killings in parts of northern Nigeria and the Middle Belt.
“Trump’s declaration has vindicated our consistent warnings that the killings in Plateau, Benue, Kaduna, Taraba, Niger, Zamfara, and parts of Borno are not random acts of banditry but carefully coordinated genocidal campaigns targeting Christians,” the group said.
The association stated that Trump’s position has morally reinforced long-standing concerns raised by civil society organisations that the situation in Nigeria goes beyond ordinary insecurity.
Citing data from the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety), HURIWA disclosed that between May 2023 and October 2025, more than 7,000 Christians were killed, 6,500 abducted, and about 1,200 churches burnt or destroyed.
“These are verifiable data compiled from church unions, local security networks, and eyewitness reports. The government’s silence in the face of such carnage is morally indefensible,” the group stated.
HURIWA recalled that Nigeria was first designated as a “Country of Particular Concern (CPC)” under Trump’s administration in 2020 before being delisted by President Joe Biden in 2021, noting that the former president’s latest remarks highlight worsening religious intolerance and human rights violations in the country.
The group also condemned comments by Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, who dismissed reports of Christian persecution as “faulty and misleading.”
“Denying the obvious when communities like Heipang, Barkin Ladi, Guma, and Kaura have been repeatedly attacked is the height of insensitivity. The government cannot continue to peddle false equivalence while Christian villages are wiped out in coordinated night assaults,” HURIWA said.
The association linked rising religious tensions to what it described as the “exclusionary composition” of the current administration, arguing that the Muslim-Muslim presidency of President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima represents “a clear departure from the federal character principle” enshrined in Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution.
It urged political parties to uphold inclusiveness in the buildup to the 2027 general elections, warning that another same-faith presidential ticket would threaten national cohesion.
HURIWA further called on the international community to sustain diplomatic pressure on Nigeria to meet its human rights obligations.
“Trump has done what conscience demands of every global leader, to speak out against injustice and stand with the oppressed. Now it is left for President Tinubu to act, not deny,” the group stated.
