ZENIT News – Contando Estrelas / Vigo, 11.09.2025).- It is a genocide that many in the West don’t talk about. For most European politicians and media, this tragedy doesn’t exist or isn’t described by name. Let us recall that in a resolution passed on February 8, 2024, the European Parliament condemned the violence against Christians in Nigeria, denouncing that since 2009, 52,000 Christians have been killed in that country and that 18,000 churches and 2,200 Christian schools have been destroyed. Despite this, the resolution avoided the term «genocide,» a term denied by those who falsely accuse the State of Israel of the same thing.
On Monday, September 1, a Nigerian Catholic Bishop spoke bluntly about the suffering of Christians in Nigeria. Bishop Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe of Makurdi stated in an interview with Nico Spuntoni published by the Italian newspaper Il Tempo:
«We need the world to know what is happening here, especially in Benue. The most accurate word to describe the real situation in Nigeria is genocide. The total elimination of the Christian population is underway. A genocide at the hands of jihadists, which is also a religious war against us.»
The Bishop of Makurdi explains what he means with these last words:
«For years, a calculated strategy of Islamization of entire areas of the country has been pursued, implemented through an agenda that includes violent actions. In the state of Benue, where my diocese is located, 98% of the population is Christian, and it has become one of the most dangerous. The attackers are foreign Muslims who destroy churches, kill defenseless residents, and expel others, burning their lands and then returning to occupy them. But it is a plan of conquest that also includes nonviolent actions.»
Monsignor Anagbe details the Islamist pressure against Nigerian Christians in these words:
«They change the names of villages to Arabic names. Islamic radicalism is influencing the social dynamics in Nigeria: recently, 12 states closed schools for weeks during Ramadan. But it’s not just Muslims who live in those places! This causes considerable harm to Nigerian students. And if they aren’t closed in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, why are they in Nigeria?»
Regarding those who deny that the situation in Nigeria is caused by Islamist terrorism, as some Western media and politicians have done, the Bishop of Makurdi points out:
«They deny reality. There were even those who claimed that what is happening in our lands is attributable to climate change. The powerful take refuge in political correctness to avoid getting to the point, and this is paralyzing. Everyone knows what they are doing to us, and we must define it for what it is. If this isn’t a religious war, tell me what is it?»
The interviewer mentions that the massacre of 200 Christians in Yelewata took place in June, and asks the Bishop if there is any story that has particularly impacted him. Monsignor Anagbe notes:
«They set fire to a room, burning everyone alive, including two babies, ages 3 and 5 months. A mother who had taken refuge on a rooftop had to witness the massacre of her five children and, overwhelmed with grief, jumped into the void. But the Yelewata massacre is just the tip of the iceberg, because every day there is an attack in our villages. We have witnesses of pregnant women dismembered by terrorists who then threw their babies into their belly.»
In the interview, the Nigerian Bishop warns about the direction Europe is heading: «Islamic radicalism is already strong in Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom,» and warns that neighbouring countries like Mali, Burkina Faso, and Chad «cannot take in millions of asylum seekers. Europe cannot even think of planning for a reception of this magnitude. So the best thing for everyone is to resolve the situation here and guarantee the safety of Nigerian Christians.»
