Riley Moore, a member of the United States House of Representatives representing West Virginia’s 2nd District, has called on President Donald Trump’s administration to take what he described as “forceful action” to protect Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt following renewed killings in Plateau State.

In a statement shared on X on Thursday, Moore compared Nigeria’s swift intervention during an attempted coup in Benin Republic with what he described as the government’s inability to stop attacks on its own citizens.

The lawmaker, reacting to reports and videos from Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State, where gunmen allegedly attacked mourners during a mass burial on Wednesday, accused the Nigerian government of failing to protect Christian communities despite alleged prior warnings about the attacks.

He claimed that Christians who gathered for the mass burial of victims killed in an earlier attack were later attacked and killed by suspected terrorists, insisting that the continued violence against Christians in Plateau State was unacceptable.

According to him, Nigerian authorities have the capacity to tackle terrorism but have failed to act decisively to prevent repeated attacks in affected communities.

Moore also expressed appreciation to the Trump administration for including the protection of Christians in Nigeria in its new Counterterrorism Strategy.

He wrote, “When I visited Nigeria, the government responded swiftly to quell a coup in Benin.

“Nigeria’s willingness to step in to stop a violent attack in another country, while they stand by as their own Christian citizens are brutalized makes these absolutely horrific scenes unfolding in Plateau State all the more unconscionable.

“Christians — who were gathered for a mass burial for those killed in a previous attack — were viciously murdered by radical Islamic terrorists.

“The Nigerian Government could root out the terrorism and stop the martyrdom of its own citizens. But, despite receiving early warnings of impending attacks, they are nowhere to be found as Christians are murdered for their faith, like lambs led to slaughter. Enough is enough.

“I am grateful the Trump Administration specifically identified protecting Christians in Nigeria in the administration’s new Counterterrorism Strategy. Now, I am asking the Trump Administration to take forceful action to defend our innocent brothers and sisters in Christ in the Middle Belt of Nigeria, the epicenter of an ongoing Christian genocide.” (Nigerian Tribune)

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