Catholic Bishop Wilfred Anagbe, a Claretian missionary leading the Diocese of Makurdi in central Nigeria, has raised alarm over what he describes as a deliberate plot to Islamize Nigeria, threatening its secular foundation.
Testifying before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, chaired by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), the bishop accused the government under President Bola Tinubu—a Muslim leading the All Progressive Party (APC) alongside his Muslim Vice President Shettima—of complicity in this agenda. He argued that the Muslim-Muslim leadership violates Nigeria’s secular state and enables violence against Christians.
Bishop Anagbe told the subcommittee that militant Muslims are waging a campaign of “religious cleansing” across vast regions of Nigeria, involving killings, abductions, rapes, land seizures, and the renaming of Christian villages. “The experience of Nigerian Christians today can be summed up as that of a Church under Islamist extermination,” he said during the Wednesday hearing. “It is frightening to live there.”
Beyond physical attacks, he pointed to efforts by the Islamic Council of Nigeria and other groups to impose sharia law on Christian communities, reinforcing his claim of an “Islamic agenda” to eliminate Christianity and establish Nigeria as an Islamic state in West Africa. In an interview with EWTN News Nightly, he reiterated, “The persecution of Christians, especially Catholics, is the work of a calculated plan to conquer this territory.”
The bishop criticized the Nigerian government for granting “impunity” to attackers, noting that calls for help to police and military often go unanswered. “When we reach out for protection, they do not come,” he said. A spokesperson for Nigeria’s embassy in Washington, D.C., was unavailable for comment on Friday afternoon.
Anagbe urged the U.S. to reinstate Nigeria’s designation as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, which could trigger sanctions. Nigeria held this status under President Donald Trump in December 2020, but it was lifted by Secretary of State Antony Blinken in November 2021, despite persistent reports of anti-Christian violence, with no clear explanation provided.
Nigeria, West Africa’s largest nation and the world’s sixth most populous with about 236 million people, is nearly evenly divided between Muslims (just over half) and Christians (just under half), per the CIA’s World Factbook. Roman Catholics make up roughly 10% of the population. Yet, the country ranks high on lists of Christian persecution. Open Doors recently reported that more Christians are killed for their faith in Nigeria than anywhere else globally, while Agenzia Fides documented 145 Catholic priests kidnapped over the past decade, with 11 killed and four still missing.
The bishop described the persecution as systematic, spanning multiple administrations and driven by a “long-term Islamic agenda” to erase Nigeria’s Christian identity. This strategy, he said, includes violent acts—such as church burnings, murders, and land grabs by Fulani herders—as well as nonviolent measures like barring Christians from power. He noted that Fulani herders, semi-nomadic cattle herders often clashing with farmers, seize Christian lands and rename villages, signaling an “expansionist approach.” Additionally, he criticized the closure of schools in 12 northern states during Ramadan—a five-week period—calling it an outlier even among Muslim-majority nations.
Rep. Chris Smith, who has led eight subcommittee hearings on Nigeria’s religious persecution since 2012, warned that the situation has deteriorated significantly. He referenced the recent murder of Father Sylvester Okechukwu in Kaduna state on Ash Wednesday, where the priest was bound and shot in the head at close range. “The systematic slaughter and abuse of Nigerian believers must stop,” Smith said. “Delay is denial—and a death sentence to so many.”
As Nigeria’s secular ideals hang in the balance, Bishop Anagbe’s testimony underscores a deepening crisis of faith and governance in the nation.
