Celebrities such as Nicki Minaj have spoken out about the persecution of Nigerian Christians as advocates worry about renewed violence. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)
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While humanitarian groups and celebrities have condemned attacks on Nigerian Christians, reports of renewed violence in the country’s Middle Belt and concerns about the political fallout from the U.S. midterm elections have raised concerns about the future of religious-freedom efforts.
Advocates question whether the violence will subside and hope for more attention to the crisis.
“Things have gotten worse,” Stephen Osemwegie, president and founder of Save Nigeria Group USA, a nonprofit focused on the welfare of Nigerians in America and around the world, told Fox News Digital. “So as far as the scale, yes, people are still getting killed, but it’s not making the news because the U.S. is a bit distracted.”
He said millions of people remain displaced, churches continue to be vandalized and destroyed, and parishioners are being killed while the war in Iran and the recent midterm elections have dominated U.S. headlines.
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While religious and communal strife has existed for decades, the violent conflict involving Islamist insurgencies began around 2009. Since then, the United Nations and Armed Conflict & Location Data Project (ACLED), which monitors conflict and protest, reports that violence across Nigeria has claimed upwards of 53,000+ lives across communities. Advocacy and human rights groups like Intersociety and Open Doors report that over 50,000 to 62,000 Christians have been killed since 2009.
Beyond humanitarian organizations, Christian leaders and church groups, celebrities such as rapper Nicki Minaj and actress Patricia Heaton have repeatedly addressed the crisis publicly.
Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo, regional leader of the Church of Christ in Nations, in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, preaching at a funeral of murdered Christians. (Truth Nigeria/ Masara Kim)
In October, during an X Takeover event at Tesla’s Giga Texas facility, Minaj spoke about her personal connection to Nigeria and urged fellow celebrities, influencers and Christians to raise awareness of the crisis.
In November 2025, she joined U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz at an event titled “Combatting Religious Violence and the Killing of Christians in Nigeria,” where she delivered remarks and thanked President Donald Trump for his efforts prioritizing the issue, combatting extremism and trying to put a stop to violence to those who want to exercise their natural right to freedom of religion or belief.
“I stand here as a proud New Yorker with a deep sense of gratitude that we live in a country where we can freely and safely worship God regardless of one’s creed, background or politics. No group should ever be persecuted for practicing their religion…,” Minaj said. “In Nigeria, Christians are being targeted, driven from their homes and killed. Churches have been burned, families have been torn apart, and entire communities live in fear constantly simply because of how they pray.”
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Likewise, Heaton has shared social media posts and news commentary about reported massacres, beheadings and mass burials. She has also criticized what she sees as insufficient media coverage and international attention.
In May, she wrote “Pray for our brothers and sisters” while re-posting a video by Jeremy Wayne Tate noting that more than 70% of all Christians killed for their faith last year were Nigerian.
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Young Nigerians protest killings following attacks on Christian-majority villages in Benue state in June 2025. (Open Doors UK)
Fox News Digital reached out to both Minaj and Heaton for additional comment.
Violence stemming from clashes and attacks by radical Islamist groups, including Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), as well as Fulani ethnic militias, has intensified since the 2010s. Attacks have increasingly extended into Nigeria’s Middle Belt, targeting farming and Christian communities, while the crisis exists within a broader national conflict that has affected communities across religious lines, including Muslims and others.
Organizations such as Open Doors International that monitor the crisis report that thousands of Christians have been displaced and forced into camps within the country. Meanwhile, Sahara Reporters cited an October report by Aid to the Church in Need that said more than 3.5 million people had been displaced in Nigeria.
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A recent report by the news and investigative media project Truth Nigeria questioned whether Nigerian Christian leaders are reconsidering their Washington strategy following the midterm elections. It examined concerns that Republican lawmakers who supported Nigeria’s Country of Particular Concern (CPC) redesignation and stricter accountability measures have now lost political influence, leaving local leaders to navigate the crisis.
While Osemwegie credited the Trump administration for highlighting the situation and designating Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) — particularly through cooperation between the two countries on drone surveillance and intelligence sharing — he remains concerned about potential changes in congressional pressure, religious-freedom advocacy and calls for accountability.
Osemwegie hopes that American assistance remains because of the country’s “vast experience dealing with global terror.”
“We’re hoping we can get attention to sustain some of the gains that have been recently made,” he said.
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Catholics gather for Mass at the Church of the Assumption in Lagos, Nigeria, on April 21, 2025. (Olympia De Maismont/AFP)
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“We want that to continue. We don’t want a relapse. So those are some of the things we’re advocating for,” he said.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Africa Subcommittee held a hearing Thursday titled “One Year Later: Assessing Nigeria’s Efforts to Protect Christians and Secure the Middle Belt” chaired by Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J. The hearing’s title references the Nov. 20, 2025, Africa Subcommittee hearing on religious persecution in Nigeria.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies covered the hearing and said that the focus on Christian persecution was important, but also noted the large loss of Muslim life in the country; the United Nations has reported more Muslims have been killed overall in the country.
“The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s 2026 Annual Report described religious freedom conditions during 2025 as ‘abysmal,’ documenting attacks on Christians and authorities’ failures to respond, investigate, or pursue justice. It also reports attacks on Muslims and practitioners of traditional religions, including Muslims killed by insurgents in Sokoto and Borno state,” the CSIS wrote.