UAE Analyst Warns of Systematic Ethnic and Religious Violence Against Nigerian Christians

UAE political analyst Ahmed Sharief Alameri has raised international concern over what he described as a systematic campaign of ethnic and religious violence targeting Christians in Nigeria.

In a statement shared on his official X account, Alameri said Christian families are being attacked in their homes, churches are being burned, and children are being killed for practising their faith. He described the attacks as organized and ideologically driven, claiming they are influenced by extremist movements such as Boko Haram and guided by doctrines once associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.

“The killings are methodical. The targets are chosen. Villages vanish under the same banners of fanaticism that have stained other regions in fire,” Alameri wrote. He warned that the international community’s silence enables such groups to thrive in chaos, replacing worship with warfare and unity with fear.

Alameri praised Nigeria’s Christian communities as peaceful citizens who contribute through farming, education, and worship, emphasizing their resilience despite years of violence. “The Christians of Nigeria are people of peace. They build, they teach, they farm, they worship. Their resilience stands against the destruction that seeks to silence them,” he said.

Calling the defence of Nigeria’s Christians a defence of human dignity, Alameri urged world leaders to act swiftly to prevent further atrocities. “Their right to live in peace is justice in its purest form. Every leader, every nation, and every conscience must rise before another generation’s blood darkens the soil of a land that once prayed in harmony,” he added.

His remarks come amid growing international concern over religious violence in Nigeria. In the United States, lawmakers including Senator Ted Cruz and Congressman Riley Moore have called for Nigeria to be redesignated as a Country of Particular Concern under the U.S. International Religious Freedom Act. The proposed Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act seeks to impose sanctions on Nigerian officials accused of enabling or ignoring attacks on Christian communities.

A 2024 report cited by the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa found that Nigeria accounted for 90% of all Christians killed globally each year. International Christian organisations have echoed these findings, urging greater global intervention.

Nigerian officials, however, have strongly rejected the allegations. The House of Representatives condemned the U.S. legislation, insisting there is no state-sponsored persecution of Christians. Minister of Information Mohammed Idris dismissed claims of genocide as propaganda, saying Nigeria’s security challenges affect all communities. Several Nigerian lawmakers and former defence officials have also cautioned against what they view as Western narratives that oversimplify the country’s complex internal conflicts.

Alameri’s call adds to the mounting pressure on global leaders to confront the worsening religious violence in Nigeria, a crisis that continues to test the nation’s unity and the world’s moral resolve.