A Catholic priest serving at the Catholic Secretariat, Nnewi, Anambra State, Reverend Father Emefiena Ezeani, has echoed claims of Christian genocide in Nigeria made by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.
“Yes, Senator Ted Cruz is right to say that government officials in Nigeria are ignoring the killing of Christians by Islamic Jihadists, and they are also complicit in the act of terrorism,” Fr. Ezeani wrote in a message to Truth Nigeria.
Senator Cruz had on October 3, 2025, accused Nigerian officials of “ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians by Islamist jihadists,” while introducing his Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act, which seeks to impose sanctions on complicit Nigerian officials.
In a recent statement titled “Christian Genocide,” the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) drew attention to the plight of Christians facing persecution.
CAN President Archbishop Daniel Okoh noted that the association has consistently documented religious killings, engaged international partners, and petitioned the International Criminal Court in The Hague. However, he lamented that “these cries for justice and protection are too often met with delay or denial.”
However, Abimbola Ayuba, CAN’s Director of National Issues and Social Welfare, dismissed the genocide claims, stating in an interview with Guardian Nigeria that terrorist attacks have not followed any particular religious pattern.
He added that both Christians and Muslims have suffered under the insurgency and cautioned against seeking sympathy abroad, arguing that “sanctions will only worsen poverty for all Nigerians.”
Fr. Ezeani criticized the silence of many clergymen, saying that “only about five percent of priests, pastors, and bishops in Nigeria seem concerned and outspoken about the persecution of Christians.”
He cited frequent killings in Southern Kaduna and the Middle Belt as evidence of religiously motivated violence, questioning why predominantly Muslim areas like Sokoto have not faced similar attacks.
In response to international criticism, Nigeria’s Senate, led by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, announced plans to send a delegation to the U.S. Congress to engage lawmakers over the genocide allegations.
Akpabio argued that framing Nigeria’s security crisis as a religious war was misleading, saying, “If terrorism occurs in a Christian-dominated state, most victims will be Christians, and the same applies to Muslim-dominated states.”
A report by Open Doors International revealed that 4,476 Christians were killed for their faith in 2024, with Nigeria accounting for nearly 70% of those deaths.
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