U.S. Senator Ted Cruz has accused the Nigerian government of enabling “Christian genocide” following a Palm Sunday massacre in Plateau State that left 30 dead, warning that the United States has the tools to hold complicit officials accountable.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz has issued a scathing rebuke of the Nigerian government following a Palm Sunday attack on the Angwan Rukuba community in Plateau State, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 30 people. In a statement posted to X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, March 30, 2026, the Texas senator characterized the incident as “another slaughter of Christians in Nigeria by jihadists” and directly accused state officials of complicity through negligence. “Nigerian government officials have created an environment in which Christians are routinely persecuted and slaughtered by imposing sharia law and looking the other way at violence,” Cruz stated, further claiming that the U.S. government possesses the intelligence to identify those behind the unrest. He issued a stern warning to the administration in Abuja, asserting: “Those officials should know that the U.S. knows who they are and has the tools to hold them accountable.”
The senator’s comments coincide with a period of intense domestic and international pressure on President Bola Tinubu’s government. Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State visited the survivors on Monday, promising that the state would fund the medical treatment of the injured, yet critics argue such gestures do little to stem the tide of violence. According to reports from Peoples Gazette on Tuesday, at least 119 people have been killed in coordinated attacks across Plateau State in the last 90 days alone. This surging death toll has prompted Amnesty International to accuse President Tinubu of “failing” his core responsibility to protect life and property, pointing out that issuing “turgid statements” to console victims is not a substitute for decisive military or judicial action to rein in “rampaging bandits.”
In response to the growing outcry, President Tinubu, through his media aide Bayo Onanuga, condemned the Palm Sunday massacre and assured citizens that the federal government is currently procuring advanced equipment to assist security agencies. However, the presidency has yet to provide a direct response to Senator Cruz’s specific allegations regarding the intentional creation of a persecutory environment. As international voices continue to join the “Christian genocide” campaign, the pressure on the Tinubu administration to move beyond rhetoric is mounting. With the U.S. lawmaker hinting at potential sanctions or accountability measures, the diplomatic stakes of Nigeria’s internal security crisis appear to be escalating toward a significant confrontation with Western observers.
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