By Pete Hegseth
There is no greater failure of leadership than knowing evil exists and choosing to look away. For years, the world has known that Christians in Nigeria are being systematically slaughtered, and the world has done nothing.
That ends now.
I am a soldier. I have fought terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan. I know what Islamic extremism looks like when it targets the innocent. I know the smell of burning villages. I know the silence that follows mass murder. And I know the one truth that separates warriors from bureaucrats, evil only grows when good men fail to act.
In Nigeria, we are witnessing one of the greatest crimes against humanity in modern history, and it has been deliberately hidden, minimized, and explained away by those who lack the courage to name it.
Since 2009, 125,000 Christians have been killed for their faith in Nigeria. Let me repeat that, one hundred twenty-five thousand Christians murdered. In 2025 alone, we are averaging 32 Christian deaths per day. More than 19,000 churches have been destroyed, that’s three churches per day, every day, for sixteen years. Over 1,100 entire Christian communities have been permanently erased from the map.
This is not farmer-herder conflict. This is not climate change. This is not resource competition.
This is genocide.
When militants attack a Catholic church on Pentecost Sunday and slaughter 40 worshippers, that is not a land dispute. When armed jihadists raid Christian villages on Christmas Day, killing 300 people including children, that is not ethnic tension. When terrorists chant “Allahu Akbar” while burning families alive in their homes, that is not complexity, that is evil.
And yet, if you read The New York Times, CNN, or The Guardian, you will never see the word “Christian.” You will read about “sectarian violence” and “pastoral conflicts” and “climate-driven migration pressures.” When a local Catholic bishop states plainly that “40 of my people were not killed because of global warming, but because they were Christians,” the global media ignores him.
This deliberate erasure, this refusal to name the victims and identify their murderers, is a form of complicity. The mainstream media has chosen narrative over truth, and in doing so, they have become enablers of genocide.
The Nigerian government’s complicity is equally clear. On October 14, 2025, a pastor warned the Nigerian Army that Fulani militants were preparing to attack his village. Instead of deploying troops, the army accused the pastor of “spreading misinformation.” Hours later, 13 Christians were murdered, including a six-year-old child. No apology was issued. No arrests were made. No protection was provided.
When it takes three years to arraign suspects in a church massacre that killed 40 people, when military commanders refuse to engage terrorists whose locations are known, when government officials frame systematic religious persecution as climate change, we are not witnessing failure. We are witnessing collaboration.
Previous American administrations understood this. In December 2020, the United States of America designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern for systematic violations of religious freedom. It was a necessary and justified recognition of reality.
Then, in November 2021, the Biden administration removed that designation, even as the violence escalated. Even as the body count rose. Even as churches continued to burn. They chose diplomacy over truth, and Christians paid the price in blood.
For four years, the international community has issued statements, held conferences, and expressed concern. For four years, Christians have continued to die, 32 per day, every day, without pause.
President Trump has had enough. I have had enough. And America has had enough.
On October 31, 2025, President Trump redesignated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern. That designation came with a presidential directive to this Department, prepare operational plans to protect Christians and eliminate the terrorists who are slaughtering them.
Let me be absolutely clear about what this means,
To Boko Haram, ISWAP, and the Fulani militants: You have targeted Christians because you believed no one would come to their defense. You were wrong. The United States military is the most lethal fighting force in human history, and we are coming for you. There will be no negotiations. There will be no warnings. There will be no sanctuary.
To the Nigerian government: You have enabled this genocide through your inaction, your corruption, and your complicity. All military and financial aid to your government is suspended effective immediately. If you will not protect your Christian citizens, we will, with or without your permission.
To the Christians of Nigeria: For sixteen years, you have endured unspeakable suffering while the world looked away. You have buried your children, rebuilt your churches, and maintained your faith in the face of extermination. You are not forgotten. You are not alone. America stands with you, and America’s warriors are coming.
To the American people: Some will call this intervention. Some will warn of unintended consequences. Some will counsel restraint. These are the same voices that counseled restraint while 125,000 Christians were murdered. These are the same voices that prioritize process over justice, diplomacy over action, and global opinion over American values.
I am not interested in their advice.
I have spent my adult life studying warfare and practicing it. I have led men in combat. I have made life-and-death decisions under fire. I know the difference between necessary force and reckless aggression. What we are preparing to do in Nigeria is not reckless, it is righteous.
This is America’s calling. Not to be the world’s policeman, but to be the world’s protector of the innocent. Not to engage in endless nation-building, but to eliminate evil wherever it threatens those who cannot defend themselves. Not to apologize for our strength, but to wield it in defense of our deepest values.
The warrior ethos that drives our military is simple, we protect those who cannot protect themselves, and we destroy those who prey upon the innocent. That ethos built this nation. It defeated the Nazis. It confronted Soviet tyranny. It hunted down al-Qaeda after 9/11. And it will now be brought to bear against those who believe they can slaughter Christians with impunity.
Some will say this is about imposing American values. They are right. I proudly embrace that charge. If defending religious freedom is imposing American values, then we should impose them everywhere they are absent. If protecting Christians from genocide is American imperialism, then I am an imperialist. If believing that human life has sacred dignity makes me a Christian nationalist, then I wear that label with honor.
History will judge this moment. Our children will ask us what we did when Christians were being slaughtered by the thousands. They will want to know if we issued statements or took action. If we expressed concern or demonstrated courage. If we prioritized diplomatic relationships or human lives.
I know how I will answer that question.
In the Middle Ages, when Christian pilgrims were slaughtered on their way to Jerusalem, Europe’s warriors took up arms and marched to their defense. They carried a simple motto, Deus Vult, God wills it. They understood that faith demands action, that belief requires courage, and that sometimes the only response to evil is overwhelming force.
Nearly a thousand years later, that same moral clarity is required. God does not will the slaughter of innocents. God does not will the burning of churches. God does not will the execution of children for their faith. And God does not will us to stand idly by while His people are exterminated.
The killers should know this… American warriors do not sleep. Our satellites see you. Our drones hunt you. Our operators train for you. You cannot hide in your jungles or your deserts or your mountains. When you hear the Reaper overhead, you may fall to your knees and beg for divine intervention.
I have news for you… God heard your victims’ prayers first. We are His answer.
The world is watching to see if America still has the courage of its convictions.
They are about to get their answer.
Hegseth is the US Secretary of War
