{"id":7322,"date":"2026-05-19T19:31:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T00:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/?p=7322"},"modified":"2026-05-19T19:31:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T00:31:16","slug":"nigerias-christian-bloodshed-is-china-fueling-persecution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/?p=7322","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria\u2019s Christian Bloodshed: Is China Fueling Persecution?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Deadly Crisis for Christians in Nigeria<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nigeria has become one of the most dangerous places on earth to be a Christian. Across the country\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The killings have become so severe that the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom designated Nigeria a \u201ccountry of particular concern,\u201d while some members of the Trump administration reportedly described the attacks as \u201cgenocide.\u201d Yet beyond the violence itself lies a troubling question: who is helping sustain it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who Are the Fulani Militias?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much of the violence is blamed on armed Fulani Islamist groups accused of targeting Christian populations in Nigeria\u2019s 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 \u201cFulanization\u201d and \u201cIslamization.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dabo explained that \u201cFulanization\u201d refers to militant efforts to take indigenous land, while \u201cIslamization\u201d 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, \u201cWhatever they are doing now, all these attacks, all the insecurity, it is geared towards meeting this mandate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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, \u201cFrom everywhere, I heard gunshots. One of the bullets came and hit me here; came out.\u201d He survived only by fleeing into the bush as attackers burned homes and killed villagers. \u201cThat is how God escaped with me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The China Connection and Mining Interests<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most explosive accusations center on China\u2019s role in Nigeria\u2019s mining sector and whether Chinese economic interests may be indirectly funding violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nigeria\u2019s 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\u2019s richest mineral belts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201crent\u201d to operate in their territory. Ikemesit Effiong of SBM Intelligence told The Times<\/em> that Chinese operators were \u201cperfectly willing to pay off whoever needs to be paid off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/em> similarly reported in 2023 that Chinese nationals in illegal mining operations may have funded militant groups to secure mineral access, leading to concerns that \u201cBeijing could be indirectly funding terror in Africa\u2019s largest economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What U.S. Lawmakers Are Alleging<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February 2026, Republican lawmakers introduced the \u201cNigeria Religious Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026,\u201d which specifically raised concerns over \u201chostile foreign exploitation of Chinese illegal mining operations\u201d and accused Chinese mining activities of engaging in the \u201cdestabilizing practice of paying protection money to Fulani militias.\u201d The legislation proposed U.S. cooperation with Nigeria to reduce militia violence and counter illegal mining tied to insecurity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Critics Believe the CCP Would Look the Other Way<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s commercial footprint in Nigeria may be intertwined with one of the world\u2019s worst campaigns of anti-Christian violence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7324,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-china","category-crime","category-individual-liberty"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/funlanimiti.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7322"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7325,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7322\/revisions\/7325"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}