"United States Senator Ted Cruz has accused Nigeria's government of enabling a massacre against Christians, citing a rising number of attacks against the community in the country's troubled centre. In an X post on Tuesday, Cruz said 50,000 Christians have been killed since 2009 with 2,000 schools and 18,000 churches destroyed by what he called Islamist armed groups, but he did not cite sources for the information."
"Cruz, who counts evangelical Christians among his base, has introduced a bill to sanction Nigerian officials whom he accused of ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians. The Republican lawmaker is the most prominent figure among voices from within the Christian political right in the US who are increasingly pushing claims of a Christian genocide in Africa's most populous country, where 48 percent of people are Christians."
"Nigeria's government, while admitting a security problem, has denied the claims. Responding to Cruz's claims, the Christian Association of Nigeria said the killings in the country were not targeting Christians alone and foreign groups were looking to exploit domestic crises. Nigeria is plagued by security problems as the armed group, Boko Haram, wages a deadly rebellion in the northeast and criminal gangs operate in the northwest."
Nigeria faces multiple security crises including Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast, criminal gangs in the northwest, and recurrent communal violence that has displaced about three million people. Senator Ted Cruz and other US Christian-right figures allege a targeted genocide of Christians, citing figures such as 50,000 Christians killed since 2009 and thousands of destroyed schools and churches, but those claims lack cited sources. Cruz has proposed sanctions against Nigerian officials accused of facilitating attacks. The Nigerian government acknowledges security challenges but rejects genocide claims, and the Christian Association of Nigeria says killings are not solely targeting Christians.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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