The silent genocide

The global outrage machine is selective, and one of its favorite targets is Israel. When it comes to the relentless slaughter of Nigerian Christians by Islamist terrorists, the silence is deafening. Bill Maher, a prominent progressive voice, recently called this out on his show, bluntly stating that the massacre of Christians in Nigeria by Muslim groups like Boko Haram is ignored because “the Jews aren’t involved.” He added, “It’s the Christians and the Muslims—who cares?”

Maher’s critique is spot on. The scale of violence against Nigerian Christians dwarfs other conflicts, yet it barely registers in global consciousness. He described the situation as “so much more of a genocide attempt than what is going on in Gaza,” pointing to over 100,000 deaths since 2009 and 18,000 churches burned. Maher didn’t mince words about the lack of awareness, questioning, “Where are the kids protesting this?” and warning, “If you don’t know what’s going on in Nigeria, your media sources suck.” He rightly accused the public of living “in a bubble,” oblivious to a crisis that should demand outrage.

Nigerian Christians, representing nearly half of the nation’s population, are not launching rockets, digging tunnels, or kidnapping civilians. They are a peaceful community, seeking only to live and worship in safety. Yet they face unrelenting assaults from Islamist groups like Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and radicalized Fulani militants. The numbers are staggering, and the brutality is unimaginable. According to Open Doors, a leading NGO tracking persecution, more Christians are currently being killed for their faith in Nigeria than in the rest of the world combined. Since 2009, Muslim groups have murdered over 62,000 Nigerian Christians, destroyed 18,000 churches, and razed 2,200 schools. Open Doors calls Nigeria the epicenter of targeted violence against Christians.

The violence has significantly escalated in 2025. In the first 220 days of this year, at least 7,087 Nigerian Christians were killed by Islamist extremists, averaging 32–35 deaths per day. Benue State alone saw over 1,100 killings, including the Yelewata massacre, where 280 Christians were slaughtered, and the Sankera massacre, claiming 72 lives. Open Doors reports that jihadist violence is spreading southward from Nigeria’s Muslim-majority northern states into the Middle Belt and beyond. In recent months, at least 218 people were killed in attacks by Fulani militants, with 6,000 displaced. This follows a pattern: in the first three months of 2025, 239 Christians were killed in Benue State alone. From 2021 to 2024, ethnic and religious violence in Nigeria claimed 55,910 lives across 9,970 attacks, with at least 16,769 Christian civilians among the 30,880 civilian deaths, disproportionately targeted by Muslim terrorists from Fulani militants, Boko Haram, and ISWAP.

These are not abstract statistics—they are lives shattered, communities erased, and futures stolen. Since 2009, Boko Haram and its Muslim allies have pursued an Islamic caliphate, viewing Christians as obstacles to their vision. Churches are burned, schools destroyed, and Christian women and girls face abduction, sexual violence, and forced marriages.

Yet where is the global outcry?

European leaders rush to support causes elsewhere, even legitimizing terrorists and perpetrators with state recognition, but Nigerian Christians are met with indifference. No headlines dominate Western media. No impassioned speeches echo at the United Nations. No charges are filed at the International Court of Justice. No international relief campaigns mobilize for Nigeria’s displaced millions.

The world’s silence is not just neglect—it’s a choice. The absence of Jewish involvement seems to render this genocide invisible. If Gaza dominates global discourse, why does Nigeria’s far greater death toll provoke nothing? The real genocide is happening right now in Nigeria, yet nobody is talking about it. The selective outrage is stark: A conflict involving Jews waging war against Muslims sparks protests, hashtags, and editorials, while the systematic extermination of Nigerian Christians barely elicits a whisper. This hypocrisy must end.

The slaughter of Nigerian Christians is a humanitarian catastrophe, a genocide driven by religious hatred, fueled by Islamic texts, and it demands action. The international community must pressure Nigeria’s government to protect its citizens, prosecute perpetrators, and dismantle the Muslim networks of terror. Relief efforts must prioritize the displaced, and the media must amplify these voices.

We cannot claim to care about human rights while ignoring Nigeria’s Christians. Their lives matter as much as any others. Let us break the silence, demand justice, and work until no more lives are lost to this horrific violence. The world’s moral compass must not be dictated by who is involved but by the scale of human suffering. Nigeria’s Christians deserve our outrage, our prayers, and our action—before it’s too late.