By Sam Barron | Wednesday, 24 December 2025 10:32 PM EST
Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Wash., said on Wednesday he wants the people responsible for the persecution of Christians in Nigeria to be held accountable.
Baumgartner told “Greg Kelly Reports” about his recent visit to Nigeria to highlight violence against Christians there.
“It’s a very tough situation for many Christians in Nigeria,” he said. “Somewhere on the order of 7,000 to 50,000 have been killed in religious violence in recent times.”
Baumgartner stated President Donald Trump is taking the persecution in Nigeria very seriously, providing a morale boost. “It was a huge deal in Nigeria, because some sectors of Nigerian society and the government have really been ignoring this problem, and many Christian leaders have been asking for help globally,” he said.
“We had dinner with the Nigerian national security adviser, the minister of defense, and others, and they all spoke to the fact that President Trump highlighting this issue has really brought it to the fore within Nigeria. Now they need to work together and, hopefully, work with America to improve the situation for Christians in the country,” Baumgartner continued.
Baumgartner identified Islamic militants as a key threat: “There’s just a lot of Islamic militants that are able to use the relatively ungoverned space of Nigeria to attack Christians.”
He urged Nigerian authorities to establish police forces capable of addressing the violence and conduct trials for those involved. “And there [are] trials and convictions of these folks — these Muslim extremists engaging in these actions against Christians,” he said.
Baumgartner emphasized that Nigeria, one of Africa’s richest countries, has the resources to take action: “It’s one of the richest countries in Africa. They do have the resources to take action, and we need to see more action from them.”
Baumgartner said he believes Nigeria will be spurred into taking action due to threats of restrictions on visas and increased tariffs by Trump.
