American comedian, political commentator and television host Bill Maher, known for his incisive and controversial criticism of religion, politics and culture, used real-time HBO talk show with Bill Maher on Friday (September 26) to highlight the ongoing violence against Christians in Nigeria.
Maher has been holding a long-term show since 2003, featuring unscripted discussions with guests across the political spectrum. During the panel discussion, US representative Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, thanked Maher for raising the issue, saying the media couldn’t cover the tragedy.
“The fact that Nigeria, this issue hasn’t reached people’s radar is pretty surprising,” Maher said. “If you don’t know what’s going on in Nigeria, media sources suck. You’re in the bubble.”
“I’m not a Christian, but they systematically kill Christians in Nigeria. They’ve killed over 100,000 since 2009. They burned 18,000 churches. These are Muslims, Boko Haram,” he said. “This is more like an attempt at genocide than what’s going on in Gaza. They’re literally trying to wipe out the Christian population of the entire country.”
“Where are the kids protesting this?” he asked him that he criticized the lack of mainstream media coverage and that there was no public protest in the United States.
According to Persecution Watchdog, the measurement of anti-Christian violence in this country is already at its maximum possible;
According to Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List, Nigeria has remained one of the most dangerous places for Christians. According to WWL, of the 4,476 Christians killed for faith around the world during the reporting period, 3,100 (69%) were in Nigeria.
“The scale of anti-Christian violence in this country is already at the highest possible level under the global watch list methodology,” the report states.
In the north-central zone of the country, where Christians are more common than they are in the northeast and northwest, Islamic extremist Fulani militias attack farm communities, killing hundreds of Christians and, above all, hundreds of Christians.
Jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State (ISWAP) of West African states are also active in northern states in the country where federal control is poor and Christians and their communities continue to be targeted for attacks, sexual violence and the killing of disability. Ransom aid has been increasing significantly in recent years.
The violence spreads across southern states, with new jihadist terrorist group Lakrawa appearing in the northwest, armed with sophisticated weapons and an extremist agenda, WWL noted. Lakrawa is affiliated with the expansionist al-Qaeda rebellion Jamaa Nusrat ul Islam Wa al-Muslimin, or Zinim, which is derived from Mali.
Nigeria ranked 7th in the 2025 WWL list of 50 worst countries for Christians.
