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Is the Left Finally Waking Up to the Anti-Christian Genocide in Nigeria?

By 

William Case

September 30

4 min read

Persecuted Church

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The word “genocide” is predictably used a lot in political discourse these days – especially in the context of the war between Israel and Hamas – an accusation against Israel we have debunked. But now one of the loudest voices on the Left is changing the conversation regarding a feared genocide in Nigeria.

Comedian Bill Maher, host of Real Time with Bill Maher, called out the historic slaughter of Christians by Islamic extremists in Nigeria:

If you don’t know what's going on in Nigeria, your media sources suck. You are in a bubble, and again, I’m not a Christian, but they are systematically killing the Christians in Nigeria. They’ve killed over 100,000 since 2009. They’ve burned 18,000 churches. This is so much more – these are the Islamists Boko Haram. This is so much more of a genocide attempt than what is going on in Gaza. They are literally attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country. Where are the kids protesting this?

At that, applause erupted from the audience. When Congresswoman Nancy Mace (SC-1), a guest on the panel, thanked Maher, he still wasn’t finished.

Mace: “You can’t read about it on mainstream media. It’s sad. So, thank you for bringing it up.”

Maher: “It’s because the Jews aren’t involved. That’s why. It’s the Christians and the Muslims, so who cares?”

While many on the political Left might be shocked by Maher’s statements or are hearing about the violence against Christians in Nigeria for the first time, the ACLJ is not. In fact, we welcome any conversation that brings attention to the cause that we’ve been shining a light on for years. Take action with us by adding your name to the petition: Stop the Genocide of Christians in Nigeria.

ACLJ Senior Counsel CeCe Heil responded to Maher’s shocking admission: “You’re hearing about it if you’re listening to the ACLJ.” Heil also added, “I am at the U.N. constantly talking about Nigeria because, as far as Christian persecution goes, more Christians are killed for their faith in Nigeria than all other countries combined.”

As with any discourse that might involve the word “genocide,” facts matter. And in this case, the data backs up both the ACLJ and Maher.

According to Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List, Nigeria ranks 7th in the world in countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution, most of which is from jihadist violence, including murder, abduction, and the burning of churches and homes. In the other six countries ahead of Nigeria on the list – North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, and Eritrea – a much smaller number of Christians live in them.

Another watchdog report shows that at least 7,087 Christians were massacred from January 1 to August 10 of this year in Nigeria, and at least another 7,800 were abducted. That’s an average of more than one Christian death per hour.

For years, the ACLJ has stood up in defense of Christians in Nigeria or anywhere they come under attack. We helped convince the State Department to place Nigeria on its Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) persecution watchlist due to the persecution of Christians. But President Biden effectively abandoned Nigerian Christians in their darkest hour by removing Nigeria from the CPC watchlist. We filed a FOIA request to get to the bottom of it, and we’ve urged the Trump Administration to reinstate Nigeria on the list.

We remain steadfast in our commitment to advocate for Nigerian Christians. We hope other media outlets – even on the Left – decide to follow Maher’s lead and no longer stay silent. Take action with us. Sign: Stop the Genocide of Christians in Nigeria.

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