U.S. Congressman Riley Moore says encounters with attack survivors in Nigeria’s Middle Belt were harrowing as the delegation prepares a report for President Trump.
United States Congressman Riley Moore has described his recent visit to Nigeria as deeply distressing, citing what he called heartbreaking encounters with victims of violent attacks in the country’s Middle Belt region.
Moore, a Republican from West Virginia, led a five-member congressional delegation on a fact-finding mission that included several days in Benue State, one of Nigeria’s most violence-affected areas. The delegation met internally displaced persons, survivors of attacks, religious leaders, traditional rulers, and local community members, according to Moore.
Speaking in a Fox News interview shared Saturday on his social media account, Moore recounted stories he said illustrated the human cost of the violence.
“I met a woman who had to witness all five of her children murdered in front of her,” Moore said. He also described meeting another woman living in an IDP camp who lost her husband and two daughters during an attack, adding that she survived severe injuries while pregnant.
The congressman said such accounts shaped his view that parts of Nigeria’s Middle Belt are experiencing what he described as a systematic campaign of violence against Christian communities.
“There is a systematic effort to push these communities off their ancestral land,” Moore said, alleging the attacks are targeted rather than random.
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Nigeria’s Middle Belt has long been plagued by deadly violence involving armed groups, criminal gangs, and extremist factions. Nigerian authorities have consistently maintained that the conflict is complex, driven by terrorism, banditry, and long-standing communal tensions over land and resources, rather than religion alone.
In addition to field visits, Moore said the delegation held high-level meetings in Abuja with National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu and Attorney General Lateef Fagbemi. He described those discussions as constructive.
“There are positive things coming out of that government,” Moore said, adding that talks could lay the groundwork for closer security cooperation between the United States and Nigeria.
Despite his criticism, Moore acknowledged that Nigeria faces multiple security threats beyond the Middle Belt. He pointed to the ongoing Boko Haram and ISIS-linked insurgencies in the northeast, which have killed Christians, Muslims, and others.
He characterized Nigeria’s security crisis as “two-tiered,” involving both terrorism and what he views as targeted persecution in specific regions.
Moore said the delegation plans to brief President Donald Trump before the end of the month, presenting its findings and policy recommendations.
“First and foremost, my concern, and the President’s concern, is for civilians who are being killed and displaced,” Moore said.
Nigeria’s government has rejected claims of genocide or religious persecution, insisting that efforts remain underway to restore security nationwide amid persistent challenges.