A Deadly Crisis for Christians in Nigeria
Nigeria has become one of the most dangerous places on earth to be a Christian. Across the country’s Middle Belt, Christian villages are being attacked, churches destroyed, and families displaced by violent Islamist militants, particularly Fulani extremists. According to the 2026 Open Doors report, Nigeria accounted for 3,490 of the 4,849 Christians killed worldwide for their faith between October 2024 and September 2025, or roughly 72 percent of the global total. One civil liberties group reported that from January through early April 2026 alone, 1,402 Christians were killed and around 1,800 abducted.
The violence is horrific. On May 8, Fulani militants attacked a Christian community in Plateau State, killing eleven people, including pregnant women and a three-year-old child. Just days earlier, eight Christians had been murdered, and the attackers reportedly returned the next morning to assault mourners gathered for a funeral. Survivors describe communities living under constant fear, hearing gunfire daily and sleeping with the expectation that another attack could come at any moment.
The killings have become so severe that the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom designated Nigeria a “country of particular concern,” while some members of the Trump administration reportedly described the attacks as “genocide.” Yet beyond the violence itself lies a troubling question: who is helping sustain it?
Who Are the Fulani Militias?
Much of the violence is blamed on armed Fulani Islamist groups accused of targeting Christian populations in Nigeria’s Middle Belt. According to Jubal Bitrus Dabo of the Christian Awareness Initiative of Nigeria, many Nigerians view these attacks as part of broader campaigns of “Fulanization” and “Islamization.”
Dabo explained that “Fulanization” refers to militant efforts to take indigenous land, while “Islamization” describes what some see as a push to transform Nigeria from a secular state into one governed by Islamic doctrine. He argued that the insecurity and violence are tied to this larger goal, saying, “Whatever they are doing now, all these attacks, all the insecurity, it is geared towards meeting this mandate.”
The militants are reportedly heavily armed, often traveling in convoys with AK-47 rifles, motorcycles, pickup trucks, and even drones and rocket-propelled grenades. Christian villages, by contrast, are often described as defenseless, with little access to weapons or organized militias for protection. Pastor Habila Kak, who survived an attack in Plateau State after being shot, recalled, “From everywhere, I heard gunshots. One of the bullets came and hit me here; came out.” He survived only by fleeing into the bush as attackers burned homes and killed villagers. “That is how God escaped with me,” he said.
The China Connection and Mining Interests
The most explosive accusations center on China’s role in Nigeria’s mining sector and whether Chinese economic interests may be indirectly funding violence.
Nigeria’s Middle Belt, where many Christian communities are under attack, sits atop valuable mineral deposits. By mid-2025, Chinese companies including Canmax, Jiuling, Avatar New Energy, and Asba had reportedly committed more than $1.3 billion to lithium processing projects in Nigeria. The bloodiest conflict areas, including Riyom, Bokkos, and Barkin Ladi, reportedly overlap with one of West Africa’s richest mineral belts.
Several reports and allegations claim Chinese operators working in mining areas have paid armed groups for access or protection. Research cited from SBM Intelligence reported videos in which militant leaders allegedly boasted that Chinese workers had to pay “rent” to operate in their territory. Ikemesit Effiong of SBM Intelligence told The Times that Chinese operators were “perfectly willing to pay off whoever needs to be paid off.”
According to reporting from the Foundation for Investigative Journalism, Chinese-affiliated miners allegedly bribed the terror faction of Dogo Gide to secure mining access in Niger State, with audio evidence reportedly documenting negotiations between mining actors and militant networks. The Times similarly reported in 2023 that Chinese nationals in illegal mining operations may have funded militant groups to secure mineral access, leading to concerns that “Beijing could be indirectly funding terror in Africa’s largest economy.”
Importantly, these allegations remain allegations. The material provided repeatedly frames them as accusations from researchers, journalists, local Christian leaders, and lawmakers rather than legally proven facts. Still, the accusations have grown serious enough to enter American politics.
What U.S. Lawmakers Are Alleging
In February 2026, Republican lawmakers introduced the “Nigeria Religious Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026,” which specifically raised concerns over “hostile foreign exploitation of Chinese illegal mining operations” and accused Chinese mining activities of engaging in the “destabilizing practice of paying protection money to Fulani militias.” The legislation proposed U.S. cooperation with Nigeria to reduce militia violence and counter illegal mining tied to insecurity.
The bill cited reports that illegal Chinese mining operations may be contributing to instability through payments to armed groups and called for stronger counterterrorism cooperation and greater efforts to protect religious freedom. Lawmakers also proposed evaluating whether certain Fulani militias should be designated foreign terrorist organizations.
Why Critics Believe the CCP Would Look the Other Way
For critics of the Chinese Communist Party, the allegations fit a larger pattern. China has long been accused of showing little regard for human rights when economic or strategic interests are involved. The material provided points to Beijing’s reported blocking of international scrutiny over the treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang and its opposition to some international actions concerning ethnic and religious violence in Myanmar. Critics argue that if Chinese companies or affiliated operators are benefiting from land cleared by violence in Nigeria, Beijing may have little incentive to intervene.
A local Christian leader interviewed in Nigeria alleged that payments from Chinese businesses help militants acquire weapons later used against Christian communities. Other accusations claim Fulani groups push Christians off mineral-rich land, after which mining operations expand and displaced residents return as low-paid laborers on land once owned by their families. These claims remain contested, but they have fueled growing suspicions that China’s commercial footprint in Nigeria may be intertwined with one of the world’s worst campaigns of anti-Christian violence.
