What Does Ted Cruz Want?

That Nigeria is battling profound insecurity is not successful doubt. It couldn’t person been, fixed the wanton killings, kidnapping for ransom, and displacement of full communities, peculiarly successful the worst-hit states of the South-East, North-Central, and North-West regions.

Over the years, aggregate factors person contributed to insecurity adjacent earlier the medication of President Bola Tinubu came connected board. These factors see economic, social, and taste issues, and they are being exploited by terrorists and different equipped transgression groups. The panic groups person each been capitalizing connected them to wage warfare crossed the country, targeting some Christians and Muslims.

States similar Plateau, Benue, Borno, Yobe, Niger, Katsina, Kebbi, Kwara, Sokoto, and Zamfara person continued to acquisition sustained attacks by terrorists, bandits, and different transgression groups that person made beingness brutish for residents, particularly those successful agrarian areas with small oregon nary information presence.

Although these killings preceded the existent administration, successful the 2 years since President Tinubu assumed office, caller equipped groups person emerged, including Lakurawa successful Sokoto and Kebbi states, arsenic good arsenic Mamuda successful Kwara State.
In Katsina, a predominantly Muslim state, residents of respective communities successful the worst-hit section authorities areas person abandoned their homes, seeking refuge successful comparatively peaceful towns, including the authorities capital. In section authorities areas specified arsenic Danmusa, Faskari, Safana, Kankara, Jibiya, Batsari, and Dandume, astir each of whose residents are Muslims, the stories are tragic and unending. The latest efforts to negociate with the killers person not led to an improved information situation.

In Benue State, whose colonisation is mostly Christian, determination are scores of internally displaced persons’ camps populated by families whose communities person travel nether relentless attacks. Benue is peculiarly important due to the fact that residents of immoderate localities, particularly successful the Guma and Logo section authorities areas, person continued to endure sustained attacks.

According to Amnesty International, astir 2,600 persons, chiefly women and children, were killed successful attacks connected 50 communities successful the authorities betwixt January 2023 and February 2024. From January 2025 to date, nary less than 500 persons person reportedly been killed successful large-scale attacks successful the state, excluding those killed successful much insignificant raids that seldom get reported.

The information concern successful Benue is truthful precarious that astatine slightest 13 of its 23 section authorities areas big IDP camps. Indeed, the beingness of specified camps crossed respective states is capable impervious that Nigeria is facing superior information challenges perpetrated by persons who termination for the amusive of it.

These killers, whose actions endanger Nigeria’s continued existence, person besides murdered hundreds and abducted scores successful communities crossed Enugu, Anambra, Imo, among others. While immoderate of these killings targeted Christians and occurred successful churches, others took spot successful mosques. Only recently, scores were massacred successful a mosque astatine Gidan Mantau assemblage astatine Malumfashi section authorities country of Katsina State.

The signifier of these killings, spanning some Muslim and Christian-dominated communities, renders absurd immoderate effort to marque the unit arsenic a genocide against 1 religion. In the Christian-dominated South-East, for instance, “unknown gunmen” person repeatedly attacked and killed some Christians and Muslims alike.

Cruz’s Claim

Curiously, Senator Ted Cruz sponsored a measure titled the “Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025,” seeking the United States of America to enforce sanctions against Nigeria. He claimed that equipped groups had, for decades, gone from location to location hunting down Christians, sidesplitting wives, children, and Catholic priests successful a expected effort to hitch retired Christians.
Cruz accused the Nigerian authorities of enabling what helium called a “massacre against Christians,” alleging a surge successful attacks crossed the Middle Belt, besides known arsenic the North-Central region. Working with questionable figures perchance supplied by disinformation peddlers, helium asserted that 50,000 Christians had been killed since 2009, with 2,000 schools and 18,000 churches destroyed by Islamist equipped groups.
That helium failed to mention immoderate credible sources exposes either a mischievous intent oregon a deliberate effort to dispersed falsehood. Either way, his statement collapses nether its ain illogic and pedantry. Yet, Cruz has introduced a measure to authorisation Nigerian officials whom helium accused of “ignoring and adjacent facilitating the wide execution of Christians.”

But individuals similar Cruz, who continually beforehand the communicative of a Christian genocide, exposure thing but their ignorance of Nigeria’s analyzable reality. The victims of these killings chopped crossed some religions, conscionable arsenic the perpetrators do. It is...