“U.S. Delegation Flees Attacks in Benue — Congressman Reveals Disturbing Findings for Trump”
By Passman Akpos
U.S. Republican Congressman Riley Moore has alleged that a wave of violent attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt amounts to a “genocidal campaign,” following a high-risk fact-finding visit to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Benue State.
Speaking on Fox News’ The Faulkner Focus, Moore revealed that he and four other members of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee travelled through Benue in armored vehicles due to worsening insecurity. The delegation, he said, toured multiple IDP camps and met with victims of attacks, religious leaders, and traditional authorities.
According to Moore, the lawmakers held discussions with Catholic Bishops Wilfred Anagbe and Stephen Dugu, the Tor Tiv, and several displaced persons—“all of whom are Christians,” he emphasized.
The Congressman claimed that alleged Fulani militants he described as “Islamic radicals” have been routinely attacking Christian villages and IDP camps. He recounted multiple testimonies from survivors, including one woman who was forced to watch “five of her children murdered in front of her.” Pregnant at the time, she later delivered her baby in an IDP camp.
In another incident he cited, Moore alleged that a woman’s unborn child was “cut out of her” after her husband and two daughters were killed during an attack.
Moore dismissed long-standing interpretations by researchers and Nigerian officials that the Middle Belt violence is driven by climate pressures, land disputes, or economic competition. “If this is climate change, why burn a church? Why attack an IDP camp shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’?” he asked during the interview.
“They are trying to erase Christians from their ancestral homeland in Benue State and across Nigeria,” he insisted.
Moore disclosed that former U.S. President Donald Trump had personally directed him and House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole to compile a detailed report on the crisis. The report is expected to outline recommendations for how the U.S. government should engage Nigerian authorities on the issue, and is due before the end of the month.
Describing the visit as a mission to gather “ground truth,” Moore said the lawmakers found that IDP camps were far from secure. “These camps aren’t protected. People are terrified,” he said.
Violence in Nigeria’s Middle Belt has claimed thousands of lives over the years, often in clashes linked to land use, grazing routes, and long-standing tensions between farming communities and armed herders. Rights groups frequently accuse federal authorities of downplaying atrocities and failing to prosecute perpetrators, while critics argue that some foreign officials tend to frame the conflict solely through a religious lens.
Still, Moore said the scenes and testimonies his delegation encountered painted a deeply troubling picture. “Many Christians are being murdered for their faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” he said, adding that the lawmakers met with church leaders, Christian associations, and local communities during the visit.
The Nigerian government has not yet issued an official response to Moore’s claims.
