By Flip Holsinger
In the past six months, Nigeria has seemingly received more attention in U.S. media than ever before. Unfortunately, most of that attention has centered on terrorist attacks and killings.
It is true that Nigeria is confronting a multipronged security crisis, with terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and ISIS operating in the north and militant Fulani herders conducting attacks in the North Central states.
What is false, however, are the countless claims by activists that seek to paint a picture of the Nigerian government being systemically and structurally engaged in genocide, or, at best, simply turning a blind eye to Christians suffering from these attacks.
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Having been on the front lines of Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s security surge with the Nigerian security forces for the past three months, I can tell you that a significant amount of information circulating about the situation in Nigeria is false.
Professional activists don’t want you to know that the vast majority of Nigerian Christians and Muslims live in harmony and cooperation. They also don’t want you to know that Tinubu’s security forces are making enormous strides against violence and terrorism perpetrated by militant Fulanis.
Since Nigeria is a 50% Christian, 50% Muslim country of more than 240 million people with a Muslim president, claims of “Christian genocide” are a political lightning rod for Tinubu’s political opponents.
The killings in Jos on Palm Sunday, for instance, garnered a lot of attention in U.S. media. On that Sunday, militant Fulani shot a random group of people, Muslims and Christians alike, on a stretch of road known for drinking and drug trafficking. The killers did not shoot at a gathering of worshippers; that detail was invented out of thin air. I know this because I went there and personally interviewed eyewitnesses.
The U.S. activist Alex Barbir chose to promote his own version of the story, fabricating a picture of a religious war. Right after the shooting, Barbir stood in the street at the location of the killings and told people in that neighborhood that if they did not stand up and fight back, they would all be killed. They did fight back, and a mob of angry young people stormed into an adjacent neighborhood two days later and killed an innocent pharmacist. Barbir’s actions resulted in his expulsion from the country for inciting religious hatred, and rightly so.
The inflammatory, counterproductive, and false narratives don’t stop with Barbir. In Benue state, just last month, a U.S.-based “reporting” website fabricated a story of churchgoers being slaughtered. I went to that village (Ankpali) in person and conducted a thorough investigation. No church has been open in that village for the past five months because people fled late last year due to blood feud violence with Fulani herders. The victims I interviewed said the reason for the killings was that the few remaining villagers had refused to serve beer to Fulani herders who came into the village.
I am no stranger to paid opposition aimed at inciting violence for political purposes. Throughout my career reporting from conflict zones, I’ve seen that all over the world.
Some of the political actors peddling false narratives about the situation in Nigeria simply want Tinubu out of office. Others, like the Biafran separatists, would like to go even further and split up Nigeria into two countries.
President Donald Trump’s political opponents in the United States are implicated in this situation, too. Given Trump’s stated desire to work with the Tinubu government, portraying that same government as complicit in a so-called “Christian genocide” ultimately portrays Trump as being tricked by Muslim terrorists.
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The U.S. cannot afford for Nigeria to become a failed terrorist state like so many of its neighbors. The stability in West Africa that stems from a democracy like Nigeria cannot be underestimated, and yet certain individuals apparently want to undo all that good work and churn up a civil war with claims of Christian genocide.
Christians concerned about the situation in Nigeria deserve to know the truth from the front lines. Tinubu’s security forces are surging to the areas of the country where Christians are facing violence, and their efforts are making a real difference. With continued partnership from the U.S., Nigeria will see a day when terroristic violence, kidnapping, and banditry are relics of the past.
Philip “Flip” Holsinger is an award-winning freelance photojournalist who has reported from Haiti, El Salvador, Kosovo, Bosnia, Azerbaijan, and the Republic of Georgia. One of his photographs was named one of the Top 10 Photos of 2025 by Time Magazine.
