U.S. Congressman Riley Moore has claimed that more than 600,000 Christians in Benue State are currently living in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps after years of violent attacks that have forced them out of their communities.
In a statement shared on X on Wednesday, Moore recounted the personal accounts he said he heard during visits to several displacement camps in the state. He explained that he met “dozens of Christians” who had escaped deadly assaults and were now surviving in temporary shelters.
Moore said many of the displaced people described extreme brutality that destroyed families and wiped out entire villages. He recalled the account of one woman who said she was “forced to watch the murder of her husband and five children,” managing to flee only with her unborn baby.
He also mentioned another woman who claimed that her entire family “was slaughtered before her eyes and her baby torn from her womb,” as well as a male survivor who said “his family was hacked to death in front of him,” leaving him with permanent injuries.
Moore called the scale of displacement shocking and accused “genocidal Fulani” of attacking and uprooting indigenous Christian communities. He argued that the situation requires stronger global attention.
He reiterated: “There are more than 600,000 Christians in IDP camps in Benue State alone. These Christians should be able to live in their ancestral homeland without fear of genocidal Fulani.”
During his trip, Moore also met Tiv and Catholic leaders, including Bishop Wilfred Anagbe, Bishop Isaac Dugu, and Tiv monarch His Royal Highness James Ioruza. He said their conversations focused on what he described as an “ongoing genocidal campaign” in the state.
Moore noted that his visit to Nigeria also included meetings with National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu and other top officials. He said the discussions centred on terrorism in the North-East, killings in the Middle Belt, and shared security priorities with President Donald Trump’s administration.
According to him, both sides reviewed ways to deepen security collaboration and highlighted the existence of a joint Nigeria–U.S. task force as evidence of current progress. However, Moore stressed that “transparency must lead to decisive action,” insisting that significant gaps still remain.
Ribadu later confirmed that he met with the U.S. delegation, explaining that the talks followed earlier meetings in Washington and covered counter-terrorism, regional stability, and efforts to strengthen the strategic partnership between both nations.
On November 30, President Donald Trump redesignated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern over alleged violations of religious freedom and warned that U.S. military intervention was possible. The Nigerian government has consistently dismissed allegations of systematic Christian persecution, maintaining that insecurity affects all Nigerians regardless of religion or ethnicity.
Moore, however, praised some recent security successes, such as the rescue of over 100 kidnapped Catholic schoolchildren, and noted that U.S. concerns were “received constructively” by officials in Abuja.
He concluded that the testimonies he collected from displaced communities “will not be overlooked,” and vowed to report his findings directly to the White House as instructed by President Trump.