{"id":95461,"date":"2025-10-15T18:31:58","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T18:31:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=95461"},"modified":"2025-10-15T18:34:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T18:34:02","slug":"u-s-fact-finding-team-declares-ongoing-christian-genocide-in-nigeria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=95461","title":{"rendered":"U.S. fact-finding team declares ongoing Christian genocide in Nigeria (+ Full Conference Speech)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u25cf Former Mayor Presents Explosive Report in Abuja, Calling for Global Action<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a powerful and emotional press conference held at the Abuja Hilton Hotel today, a visiting U.S. fact-finding team led by former Texas Mayor Mike Arnold publicly declared that a genocide targeting Christians is ongoing in Northern and Middle Belt Nigeria.<\/p>\n

Arnold, founder of Africa Arise International and Africa Arise USA, presented a sweeping and deeply documented report at 4 p.m., drawing from years of personal investigation, fieldwork, survivor testimonies, and high-level consultations with Nigerian and international stakeholders. Flanked by retired U.S. Ambassador Lewis Lucke, Pastor Jed D\u2019Grace, and filmmaker Judd Saul, Arnold accused both Nigerian and international actors of enabling, excusing, or ignoring a campaign of systematic violence against Christian populations.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on more than five years of investigation and firsthand documentation,\u201d Arnold declared, \u201cI state without any shadow of a doubt: the campaign of violence and displacement in Northern and Middle Belt Nigeria does indeed constitute a calculated, current, and long-running genocide against Christian communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Mission to \u201cDeclare the Truth\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Arnold stated that his mission to Nigeria, which was arranged at the request of Nigerian National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu and prominent commentator Reno Omokri, came with a singular mandate: \u201cdeclare the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having first visited Nigeria in 2010, Arnold said he has made 15 trips since then, including six investigative missions since 2019. This latest effort, however, culminated in what he called \u201ca formal finding\u201d of genocide under the terms of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention. The report draws on more than 80 hours of filmed interviews and extensive fieldwork conducted in cities and rural areas including Jos, Bokkos, Gwoza, Bukuma, and IDP camps in and around Abuja and Lagos.<\/p>\n

\u201cA Deliberate Crisis<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

The report chronicles a shift from relative peace and interfaith coexistence in 2010 to what Arnold called \u201ca deliberate crisis\u201d unleashed by political and ideological manipulation following the 2015 general elections. It asserts that foreign interference\u2014including alleged involvement by the U.S.\u2014played a role in destabilising the country, opening the door for radical jihadist groups such as Boko Haram, ISWAP, and Fulani ethnic militias to expand their reach.<\/p>\n

While the global narrative often centers on \u201cfarmer-herder clashes,\u201d Arnold condemned this terminology as a dangerous euphemism.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalling these atrocities \u2018clashes\u2019 is like calling Bosnia\u2019s ethnic cleansing a neighborhood dispute,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is not chaos. This is conquest\u2014ideological, territorial, and demographic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Field Evidence and Eyewitness Accounts<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Arnold, his team has filmed in remote areas often denied or dismissed by officials, including Ngoshe in Gwoza LGA, Borno State\u2014a former Christian farming town he now describes as a \u201cpost-apocalyptic wasteland.\u201d He detailed a consistent pattern across multiple states:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Churches destroyed, while mosques remain untouched<\/p>\n

\u2022 Christian homes and villages razed<\/p>\n

\u2022 Survivors labeled \u201cvagrants\u201d or \u201ccriminals\u201d to suppress aid or recognition<\/p>\n

\u2022 Jihadist resettlement on captured lands<\/p>\n

The team also operates schools in two Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps\u2014serving over 550 students from both Christian and Muslim backgrounds\u2014and is constructing a third.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have met orphans whose parents were hacked to death,\u201d Arnold stated. \u201cWe have seen the mass graves. We have heard the stories of abduction, forced conversion, and execution.\u201d<\/p>\n

A growing body of survivor testimonies, satellite imagery, and independent reporting points overwhelmingly to radical Fulani militias as the leading perpetrators of mass atrocities\u2014often outpacing even Boko Haram and ISWAP in scale and lethality.<\/p>\n

Three Forces Driving the Crisis<\/strong><\/p>\n

The report identifies three central forces behind the sustained violence:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Radical Islamic Conquest \u2013 Aided by fighters from Libya and the Sahel, with ideological and political cover.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Illicit Mineral Extraction \u2013 An estimated $9 billion in annual losses to illegal mining, with attacks often followed by rapid exploitation of displaced communities\u2019 land.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Political Realignment \u2013 Forced displacement as a tool to alter electoral boundaries and demographic compositions.<\/p>\n

These elements, the report argues, converge to form a genocidal strategy masked by state and media euphemisms.<\/p>\n

International Complicity and the Call for Truth<\/strong><\/p>\n

Arnold did not spare Western powers in his remarks. He accused international actors of ignoring or enabling the violence through silence, misinformation, or geopolitical maneuvering. He also alleged intentional misreporting by some media and the sanitisation of crimes by public officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo deny what is happening is not confusion\u2014it is complicity,\u201d Arnold said. \u201cThere can be no solution while leaders play word games to bury the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Legal Grounds for Genocide<\/strong><\/p>\n

Quoting directly from Article II of the UN Genocide Convention, Arnold argued that the widespread killings, displacement, destruction of religious institutions, and denial of aid clearly meet the legal definition of genocide against a religious group.<\/p>\n

A Plea for Unity and Action<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite the grim findings, Arnold ended his presentation on a note of cautious hope.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe Nigeria has a bright future. I believe in Christian-Muslim harmony. I believe good people of every tribe and faith must stand against this evil. But first, we must name it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHere I stand. I can do no other. So help me God.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reactions Awaited<\/strong><\/p>\n

The report is already being distributed to senior U.S. lawmakers, the White House, the U.S. State Department, human rights organsations, and international media. According to Arnold, several key U.S. figures\u2014including Senator Ted Cruz and Congressman Chip Roy\u2014have been briefed and are following the developments closely.<\/p>\n

A documentary based on the team\u2019s investigations, titled \u201cMe & Ms. Hanatu\u201d, is slated for release in the coming months.<\/p>\n

As Nigeria grapples with decades of religious and ethnic violence, Arnold\u2019s findings may reignite international debate about the country\u2019s crisis\u2014and force global actors to reckon with the question: Is genocide happening in Nigeria?<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note<\/strong>: This article covers serious allegations and is based on a formal public presentation by an independent fact-finding delegation. Government officials and affected communities are invited to respond or provide additional context.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Below are the details of Arnold’s press conference:<\/p>\n

Abuja press conference report presentation …<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Formal Statement on Widespread Violence and Displacement in Nigeria<\/span><\/p>\n

By Mayor Mike Arnold, MBA<\/span>
\nFounder, Africa Arise International \/ Africa Arise USA<\/span><\/p>\n

Presented at Abuja Hilton, 4 p.m. WAT on Tuesday, October 14, 2025<\/span>
\nContributors:<\/span>
\nUS Amb. Lewis Lucke (retired)<\/span>
\nPastor Jed D\u2019Grace<\/span>
\nMr. Judd Saul<\/span><\/p>\n

I. Purpose and Credentials<\/span><\/p>\n

My name is Mike Arnold. I recently served as the elected Mayor of the City of Blanco, Texas. I first visited Nigeria in 2010 as a board member of Unity for Africa. Since then, I have made 15 trips to Nigeria, including six extended investigative missions since 2019. I founded Africa Arise International and Africa Arise USA in 2019. I have frequently been quoted in top newspapers and TV news broadcasts here. I have never extracted anything from Nigeria beyond modest gifts. My closest and most trusted friends are native Nigerians. I come only to give, serve, and stand with the people and nation I dearly love as my second home.<\/span>
\nI was personally invited here today by National Security Advisor Nuhu Ribadu and influencer Reno Omokri. The sole stated (written) charge given to me for this trip is simply to meet certain key people, and then declare the truth. I know what\u2019s at stake and take this very seriously. While my plane ticket and accommodations have been paid for, I have not asked for, been offered, nor received any compensation or promise of compensation for this. Neither am I connected in any way or compensated by the US Government. I am here independently and this statement is made without coercion or inducement of any kind. <\/span>
\nI also note that numerous top US officials have been briefed and are personally aware of my being here, the purpose of my trip, my specific itinerary, and expected return date. At their request, I am providing updates as to my status. These include but are not limited to my Senator from Texas, Ted Cruz, and Congressman Chip Roy, the White House, US State Department and Acting Ambassador, as well as a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist from the New York Times, and their International Editor. <\/span>
\nAlso note that as I present this statement, it is being simultaneously distributed not only to these people, who are awaiting it, and also posted online for all to access.<\/span>
\nThis statement is my formal account and analysis of facts, findings, and firsthand documentation of claims of widespread violence, displacement, and atrocity crimes in Nigeria, primarily directed against Christian populations in the North and Middle Belt, and whether this rises to the level of genocide. It is addressed to journalists, international observers, human rights bodies, and policymakers in the United States and abroad.<\/span>
\nWe have traveled to cities, villages, and remote encampments: from Bokkos, Jos, and Gwoza to Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Bukuma and Makoko. I have interviewed governors, cabinet ministers, traditional rulers, two former Presidents, and others. I have met orphans whose parents were hacked to death. I have built schools in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps and documented over 80 hours of filmed testimony and evidence, at great personal risk, soon to be released in our documentary film Me & Ms. Hanatu. My findings carry the weight of direct experience.[1]<\/span>
\nII. Nigeria in 2010: A Nation at Peace<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2010, Nigeria was a beacon of rising prosperity and religious tolerance, often cited as the only country where radical Islam was being pushed back. Attacks were rare and sparked national outrage. Recognized IDPs were effectively zero, with only minimal displacement from localized communal conflicts\u2014a stark contrast to the crisis that followed, marked by a 1,200% surge in IDPs by 2011 due to Boko Haram\u2019s escalation.[2] This prior absence of a displacement crisis is both verifiable and damning.<\/span>
\nIII. What Changed? A Deliberate Crisis<\/span><\/p>\n

By 2014, Nigeria\u2019s stability was shattered. Foreign meddling, including U.S. involvement, played a pivotal role in the 2015 election, enabling regime change that emboldened actors who ignored or enabled extremist violence.[3][4] High-placed eyewitness testimony confirms this interference, with firms like Cambridge Analytica further skewing the political landscape.[5] <\/span>
\nRadical jihadist elements, fueled by foreign fighters from Libya and the Sahel post-2011 Arab Spring\u2014not invaders, but invited\u2014flooded into Nigeria, amplifying Boko Haram and ISWAP.[6][7] Today, over four million Nigerians are displaced\u2014a very conservative estimate based in part on my work in hidden camps denied by officials who label victims \u201ccriminals\u201d or \u201cvagrants,\u201d rendering UN and government figures entirely unreliable.[8] The vast majority are Christians, driven from their homes by deliberate political engineering and radical conquest, while mostly Muslim IDP encampments do exist.<\/span>
\nIV. Our Team\u2019s Field Work<\/span><\/p>\n

Since 2019, our team has conducted relentless frontline research:<\/span>
\nInterviewed survivors across multiple states.<\/span>
\nOperate schools in two IDP camps for both Christians and Muslims, with a third under construction, with a present total of 550+ students. We provide free, high quality education.<\/span>
\nFilmed camps the UN and Nigerian government deny exist.<\/span>
\nRecorded numerous IDP testimonials via https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@My.Voice.Matters<\/span>
\nIn late 2024, my team visited and filmed in Ngoshe, Gwoza LGA, Borno State\u2014a once-thriving Christian farming community now a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Recent 2025 attacks confirm ongoing devastation, with surviving Christians confined to militarized zones where leaving risks abduction or execution.[9][10] Our firsthand proof exposes a reality ignored by officials. Many people of Gwoza have been refugees in Cameroon for over a decade, abandoned by Nigeria while those who returned languish in the FCT, their homelands occupied by Boko Haram as the seat of its caliphate for years now.<\/span>
\nV. Consistent Pattern of Targeted Destruction<\/span><\/p>\n

Across regions and years, we\u2019ve documented a chilling pattern:<\/span>
\nChurches destroyed.<\/span>
\nMosques left untouched.<\/span>
\nChristian homes torched.<\/span>
\nJihadists resettled on captured land.<\/span>
\nAuthorities deny or excuse the attacks.<\/span>
\nWhile some Muslims resisting extremism are targeted, the overwhelming evidence\u2014thousands of churches razed, obviously selective violence\u2014leads some to claim this is a faith-based genocide against Christians and those rejecting radical Islam.[11][12]<\/span>
\nVI. What Drives the Violence?<\/span><\/p>\n

This is not chaos but a calculated campaign driven by three forces:<\/span>
\nRadical Islamic Conquest: Armed groups, bolstered by foreign fighters from Libya\/Sahel post-Arab Spring, seek to impose extremist ideology with local enablers and political protection, described by eyewitnesses as \u201cjihad by occupation.\u201d[6][7]<\/span>
\nBlood Mineral Extraction: Nigeria loses $9 billion annually to illicit mining of gold, tin, and lithium, with a significant portion\u2014estimated at 10%\u2014funding violence and corruption. Heavy machinery and foreign buyers appear days after displacements, exploiting lands of the displaced.[13][14]<\/span>
\nPolitical Realignment: War masquerades as politics\u2014local government areas overrun, electoral districts redrawn by force, militants resettled to skew demographics, dismantling communities deemed inconvenient.<\/span>
\nVII. The Euphemism of \u201cFarmer-Herder Clashes\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The term \u201cfarmer-herder clashes\u201d is cynical doublespeak, weaponizing historical land disputes to mask jihadist conquest. For centuries, herders and farmers coexisted with rare, non-lethal disputes. Now, villages are erased, churches leveled, and tens of thousands are dead. This is systematic terror, not grazing conflicts\u2014a lie akin to calling Bosnia\u2019s ethnic cleansing a \u201cneighborhood spat.\u201d[8][15] These targeted, deadly attacks are the same whether labeled \u201cherders,\u201d \u201cbandits\u201d or \u201cinsurgents.\u201d The puppets may change but the same forces pull the strings. A jihadi by any other name is just as deadly. Mincing words over labels appears to be intentional obfuscation.<\/span>
\nWhile global attention often focuses on Boko Haram and ISWAP, the majority of killings and displacements across Nigeria\u2019s Middle Belt are in fact carried out by the Radical Islamist Fulani Ethnic Militia. Numerous field reports, satellite imagery, and survivor testimonies confirm that these Fulani militant groups\u2014often operating under political protection and mislabeled as \u201cherders\u201d\u2014 are responsible for the most widespread, systematic, and sustained attacks on Christian farming communities. Their campaigns extend well beyond traditional grazing disputes, encompassing organized massacres, forced displacement, and the strategic occupation of conquered lands. Today, these Fulani militias represent the single most lethal terrorist threat to Nigeria\u2019s internal stability\u2014surpassing Boko Haram and ISWAP combined in reach, frequency, and civilian death toll.<\/span>
\nVIII. The Crime of Obfuscation<\/span><\/p>\n

I have personally seen ongoing efforts by officials and their loyal media to bury the truth:<\/span>
\nSanitizing massacres as \u201cconflict.\u201d<\/span>
\nLabeling displaced survivors \u201cvagrants\u201d and \u201ccriminals.\u201d<\/span>
\nRefusing to name perpetrators.<\/span>
\nThis is not confusion\u2014it is complicity. To play semantic games while people die is beyond obscene. There can be no solution while leaders play word games to hide the truth. <\/span>
\nIX. Legal Definition of Genocide<\/span><\/p>\n

Per Article II of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948), genocide includes acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group:<\/span>
\n(a) Killing members of the group;<\/span>
\n(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm;<\/span>
\n(c) Inflicting conditions to bring about physical destruction;<\/span>
\n(d) Preventing births within the group;<\/span>
\n(e) Forcibly transferring children to another group.<\/span>
\nThe evidence is undeniable: targeted killings, mass displacement, destruction of homes and churches, denial of aid, and erasure of Christian identity.<\/span><\/p>\n

X. Conclusion: My Formal Finding<\/span><\/p>\n

As an objective expert and eyewitness, a longtime lover of and traveler throughout Nigeria with access at the highest levels, based on more than five years of investigation, field interviews, firsthand documentation, and deep consultation with top scholars, statesmen and legal experts, I declare this without any shadow of a doubt: <\/span><\/p>\n

The campaign of violence and displacement in Northern and Middle Belt Nigeria does indeed constitute a calculated, currentand long-running GENOCIDE against Christian communities and other religious minorities, without any reasonable doubt.<\/span><\/p>\n

To continue to deny this is to be complicit in these atrocities.<\/span><\/p>\n

I say this not in anger, but in truth and grief. My stated assignment from my host was to speak the truth and I have done that to the best of my ability. <\/span><\/p>\n

I believe Nigeria has a bright future. I believe in Christian-Muslim harmony. I believe good people of every tribe and faith must stand against this evil. But first, we must name it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here I stand. I can do no other. So help me God.<\/span>
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u25cf Former Mayor Presents Explosive Report in Abuja, Calling for Global Action In a powerful and emotional press conference held at the Abuja Hilton Hotel today, a visiting U.S. fact-finding team led by former Texas Mayor Mike Arnold publicly declared that a genocide targeting Christians is ongoing in Northern and Middle Belt Nigeria. Arnold, founder […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":92594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[3601,2284,7365],"class_list":["post-95461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-christian","tag-genocide","tag-mayor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=95461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/92594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}