The United States has reacted against the alleged intimidation and threats against Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of Catholic Diocese of Makurdi and Reverend Father Remigius Ihyula, a Catholic priest and Coordinator of the FJDP (Faithful Journey Development Program) for speaking against the persecution of Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt.
In a post via its X handle, the U.S. Mission in Nigeria said it is “disturbed by this report” especially because Bishop Anagbe and Father Remigius testified before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) on the human rights situation in Nigeria’s North Central region.
It therefore called on “all actors to respect Bishop Anagbe’s and Father Remigius’s right to speak freely without fear of retribution or retaliation.”
The post from the American Embassy reads: “The U.S. Mission in Nigeria is disturbed by this report of intimidation and threats against Nigerian religious leaders Bishop Wilfred Anagbe and Rev. Fr. Remigius because of their March 12 testimony before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) on the human rights situation in Nigeria’s Middle Belt.
“Freedom of expression is an essential human right and central to the function of democracy, in Nigeria and the United States.
“No one should be subject to threats for exercising that right. We call on all actors to respect Bishop Anagbe’s and Father Remigius’s right to speak freely without fear of retribution or retaliation.”
During his testimony at the HTAC, the bishop had called for Nigeria to be reinstated on the list of Countries of Particular Concern, issued each year by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom under the Religious Freedom Act of 1998.
At the United Kingdom (UK) parliament, Bishop Anagbe bemoaned the mass killings of Christians by Islamist extremists and militant Fulani herdsmen in Benue State, saying that it threatens the Church’s entire presence in the affected areas and potentially even in the entire country.
Anagbe, who visited UK as guest of Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), told Westminster parliamentarians on March 25, 2025 that militants had torched his people’s homes and forced them to flee to Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs) camps in the region, alleging that Islamist extremists and Fulani herdsmen had targeted Christians in Makurdi and elsewhere in Benue State with farmers driven from their land, churches burned and priests, religious and lay members killed.
“They follow orders to conquer, kill and occupy. They attack even those who have managed to escape into our IDP camps.”
He added that for his people, their experience today “can be summed up as that of a Church under Islamist extermination”.
Bishop Anagbe also condemned the lack of action by the Nigerian government to tackle this violence and insecurity.
“When we call for help to the police and the army, they do not come. At the end of 2024, several villages were warned by the attackers of the upcoming violence, and the leaders called the police for defence, ahead of time,” he said.
The bishop called on the UK government and parliamentarians to work with the Nigerian government to bring relief to the suffering of those who have fled the violence and are now in IDP camps.
“I ask you to condition the diplomatic and economic relations of the UK with Nigeria on the return of the IDPs to their ancestral homes and help for them to rebuild their lives,” the prelate said.
“I implore this august body to insist on the return and rehabilitation of all IDPs to their ancestral lands, and not to relocate them to other constructed camps elsewhere.”
It should also include, he said: “Payment of full compensation to all victims of religious persecution and insecurity. Ensuring that victims of religious persecution get justice.”