Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth for the Colson Center. I'm John Stone Street. Christians in Nigeria are paying for their faith like no one else in the world right now. Attacks from Muslim extremists were once limited to mostly sacred holidays like Easter and Christmas, but today they're almost continuous. This year alone, the slaughter of Nigerian Christians has hit an unprecedented level.
According to a newsreak report, over 7,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria in just the first 220 days of 2025. That's an average of 35 killed a day. That's why I joined 33 other leaders of various Christian organizations this week. To appeal to President Donald Trump to declare Nigeria a country of particular concern. Last month, the U.S.
Senate took up a bill to do the same. Just days later, Nigeria's House of Representatives unanimously rejected the designation. But the letter to the president made a very strong case for the designation. Quote, U.S. law warrants CPC designation when a country is found to be tolerating serious violations of religious freedom as well as when itself carries out violations.
The Nigerian government is directly violating religious freedom by enforcing Islamic blasphemy laws that carry the death penalty and harsh prison sentences against citizens of various religions. It also demonstrably tolerates relentless aggression, uniquely against Christian farming families, by militant Fulani Muslim herders who appear intent on forcibly Islamizing the Middle Belt. The letter then continues, quote, Nigeria's government allows the militant Fulani herders to attack defenseless Middle Belt Christians with complete impunity. It fails to investigate the Fulani organizational structures and identify who's arming them. The authorities don't enforce the country's gun bans against the Fulani.
They don't act to reclaim the stolen farms for their Christian owners, who are instead consigned to destitution in internally displaced camps that receive little, if any, government assistance. They rarely arrest and never convict Fulanis who attack Christians. Even when warned of impending Fulani attacks, government security forces are typically unresponsive or ineffective. In a speech before the UN General Assembly back on September 23rd, President Trump said to world leaders, Let us protect religious liberty, including for the most persecuted religion on the planet today. Christianity.
There is no better example of what the President is talking about there Then Nigeria. Again, quoting from our letter, quote, Across Nigeria's north, innocent Muslims and Christians alike are brutally victimized by Boko Haram. And other Islamic State and al-Qaeda-linked terror groups seeking religious and political domination within that country. Significantly, for Christians, Nigeria is singled out as currently the world's most deadly country, according to the respected Christian research group Open Doors. The Nigerian civic group Inter-Society on Civil Rights and Rule of Law finds that 52,000 Christians have been killed and over 20,000 churches attacked and destroyed since 2009 by various Islamist extremist groups in Nigeria.
Thousands of Christians have been murdered and raped in the current year so far. Over a hundred Christian pastors and Catholic priests have been taken hostage for ransom. End quote. During President Trump's first term, he did designate Nigeria as a country of particular concern. That designation was revoked four and a half years later by President Biden.
The Religious Freedom Report of 2023 under Biden's State Department and a neo-Marxist take about the attacks there blamed climate change for the so-called clashes between two rural socioeconomic groups over scarce natural resources. That theory is simply woke nonsense. The U.S. State Department is anticipated to break its two-year moratorium on countries of particular concern designations in December.
Now there are concerns that the Trump administration might be considering listing Nigeria on the International Religious Freedom Act. Special watch list instead of designating it as a country of particular concern. The letter addresses that possibility. Quote. If so, this may stem from a misconception.
That CPC designation would require the United States to isolate or sanction Nigeria. In fact, The IRF Act does not mandate automatic sanctions and moreover provides for a sanctions waiver and cites a range of other possible policy responses. End quote. Look, we believe it's long past time to address the dire situation that Nigerian Christians have been facing for so long and that is clearly getting worse. Failing to do so would dishonor religious freedom as a core pillar of U.S.
foreign policy. and would also be turning a blind eye to to the atrocities that are happening to Christians in Nigeria. To read the entire letter, please visit. breakpoint.org. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street.
Today's Breakpoint was co-authored by Bob Dittmer. If you're a fan of Breakpoint, please leave us a review wherever you download your podcast. And for a version of this commentary that you can download and share with other people, go to breakpoint.org. Hi, Breakpoint listeners. You've probably heard us talk about the Colson Fellows program on Breakpoint.
I'm excited to let you know that the Colson Fellows team is hosting a one-hour live informational webinar on October 23rd at 1 p.m. Eastern. These webinars allow you to hear an overview of the program and get your questions answered. The webinars are hosted by our Vice President and Dean of the Colson Fellowship. Michael Craven.
Here at Breakpoint, we work hard to help you consider current events through a Christian worldview. If you want to go deeper to discover how to develop the wisdom and skills needed to walk wisely in this cultural moment, then the Colson Fellows program might be for you. This 10-month program takes you on a deep dive into Christian Worldview through readings, devotionals, monthly cohort meetings, and more. If you're interested, an informational webinar is a great next step to learn more. Again, the webinar will be Thursday, October 23rd at 1 p.m.
Eastern Time. Register today at colsonfellows.org slash webinar. That's colsonfellows.org slash webinar.
