Over 600,000 Christians In Benue Alone Now Living In IDP Camps — US Congressman Raises Alarm During Visit
December 10, 2025
News
More than 600,000 displaced Christians are currently taking refuge in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps across Benue State, according to a sobering account shared by United States Congressman Riley M. Moore after a visit to the region.
Moore, who represents West Virginia’s 2nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives, said he met with “dozens of Christians who were driven from their homes and subjected to horrific violence.”
He described their stories as “horrible” and emotionally devastating, noting that the testimonies would stay with him “for the rest of my life.”
In a series of posts on his official X handle, the congressman recounted multiple incidents of extreme brutality allegedly carried out during attacks on remote villages.
According to Moore, one woman was forced to watch as armed attackers murdered her husband and five children before she narrowly escaped with her unborn baby.
Another survivor he spoke with lost her entire family and had her unborn child violently removed from her womb.
Moore further described meeting a man whose family was “hacked to death” during an attack that left his arm permanently disfigured.
“These Christians should be able to live in their ancestral homeland without fear,” he wrote, condemning what he characterized as “genocidal violence” targeting rural Christian communities.
He warned that the sheer scale of displacement in Benue points to a worsening humanitarian crisis and urged the international community to pay greater attention to the plight of survivors living in overcrowded, under-resourced IDP camps.
Moore also shared photographs from his visit, showing the victims and the conditions inside the camps.
Attacks on farming communities across Nigeria’s Middle Belt have long been documented by local authorities and international rights organizations, though casualty figures and the identity of perpetrators often remain disputed.
Moore’s account adds to growing calls from foreign lawmakers, humanitarian groups, and local leaders for urgent action to protect vulnerable populations and address the underlying drivers of the violence.