United States Congressman, Riley Moore, has described his recent visit to Nigeria as “distressing,” following what he termed heartbreaking encounters with victims of violent attacks in the country’s Middle Belt region.
Moore, who led a five-member congressional delegation on a fact-finding mission, spent several days in Benue State last week, meeting with internally displaced persons (IDPs), survivors of attacks, religious leaders, traditional rulers, and affected communities.
The team also held high-level meetings in Abuja with the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi.
Speaking in an interview with Fox News, which he posted on his 𝕏 handle on Saturday, the West Virginia lawmaker recounted chilling experiences from the visit, including stories of families brutally attacked.
Moore said, “I met a woman who unfortunately had to witness all five of her children murdered right in front of her.
“I met another woman in an internally displaced persons camp who lost her husband and her two daughters, and the Fulani Islamic radicals had murdered her unborn child, they took it out of her. She survived that, and they are all living in these IDP camps.”
Moore claimed that the violence in parts of the Middle Belt amounted to a “systematic genocidal campaign” against Christian communities.
“There is a systematic genocidal campaign by the Fulani Muslim radicals in the Middle Belt of this country to push these Christians off their ancestral land,” he said.
He reiterated the allegation, stressing what he viewed as a targeted attempt to displace Christian populations in the region.
Despite the harrowing accounts, Moore said the delegation had what he described as a “positive meeting” with Nigerian authorities.
“There are positive things coming out of that government that I think will put us on a path toward a strategic security framework and a cooperative agreement to start addressing these issues,” he said.
The Congressman emphasised that the protection of Christians remains a top concern for both him and former President Donald Trump, whom the delegation plans to brief before the end of the month.
“First and foremost, my concern, and the President’s concern, is for these Christians, our brothers and sisters who are being slaughtered,” Moore said.
He added that Nigeria’s security challenges extend beyond the Middle Belt, citing ongoing terrorist threats in the North East from Boko Haram and ISIS, which have claimed the lives of Christians, Muslims, and others.
Moore described the Nigerian security situation as “two-tiered,” involving both terrorism and what he termed persecution.
“The problem is two-tier, and we have to address this Christian persecution and genocide that is happening in the Middle Belt of this country,” he said.