US Restricts Visas Over Nigeria Attacks on Christians

The United States will now restrict visas for Nigerians and family members connected to recent attacks on Christians, the State Department announced

The move comes after multiple years of attacks on churches and schools, with thousands having been murdered and hundreds of Christian children kidnapped. In late October, gunmen burst into the Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Kwara State, killing two worshipers and abducting dozens. Days later, heavily armed Islamic terrorists descended on St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Niger State and kidnapped more than 300 children and teachers. About 50 kids managed to escape in the days that followed, but more than 250 students and a dozen teachers remain missing.

Mass killings

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the visa restrictions target individuals involved in “mass killings and violence against Christians by radical Islamic terrorists, Fulani ethnic militias, and other violent actors in Nigeria and beyond.” His statement, posted on X, said the United States would block travel for those who directed, supported or carried out religious-freedom violations and, when appropriate, their immediate relatives.

READ: US rapper demands action to protect Nigerian Christians

The Trump administration says the new visa policy is being executed under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Rubio said the U.S. may apply the heightened actions to other countries or individuals found to be involved in similar attacks on Christians around the world.

In an interview with Metro Voice, a Nigerian pastor shared stories and a video (below) of attacks on churches. In once November 18 incident that did not make headlines, he stated bandits attacked Christ Apostolic Church, Oke Isengun in Eruku, Ekiti. “Four people were killed and others abducted.”

He asked for American Christians to pray for their Nigerian brothers and sisters in Christ. “May the souls of the departed ones rest in peace,” he stated.

Attacks on Christians common in Nigeria

President Donald Trump re-designated Nigeria a “country of particular concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act. His actions reversed a Biden administration that took Nigeria off the list, against the pleas of Nigerian Christians. Trump describes the recent wave of killings as “a disgrace” to civilized society and religious freedoms. He has also directed the Pentagon to plan for potential military action tied to the persecution of Christians. The decision was met with opposition from Nigerian officials who have been accused by the country’s Christian community of being complicit in what some describe as a “genocide.”

Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country with 237 million people. It’s split about evenly between Christians and Muslims and continues to struggle with conflicts involving Muslim extremist groups, criminal gangs, and Fulani Islamic armed groups attacking Christian villages.

A report by the religious persecution watchdog group Open Doors reports that for a 12 month period in 2023, 82% of Christians murdered around the world for for faith, died in Nigeria.

–Dwight Widaman