Comedian Bill Maher is calling out the media for its silence on the Christian genocide happening in Nigeria. The television host and political commentator said during a Friday episode of his talk show, 'Real Time with Bill Maher', that there’s a lack of conversations around it because “Jews aren’t involved".
“Nigeria, the fact that this issue has not gotten on people’s radar, it’s pretty amazing,” Maher said. “If you don’t know what’s going on in Nigeria, your media sources suck. You are in a bubble.”
South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, one of Maher’s guests, said the mainstream media isn’t talking about it because it’s happening in Africa.
As Premier Christian News previously reported, religious persecution in Nigeria has reached unprecedented levels since 2009. Extremist groups and armed militias have killed more than 52,000 Christians across the country. According to Persecution.org, more than 20,000 churches, seminaries, and Christian-based institutions have been destroyed.
As the Christian Post reports, Nigeria is one of the most dangerous countries for Christians. Open Doors ranks Nigeria as the 7th dangerous place for Christians on its World Watch List.
“I’m not a Christian, but they are systematically killing the Christians in Nigeria,” Maher said.
He added: “These are the Islamists, Boko Haram. This is so much more of a genocide attempt than what is going on in Gaza. They are literally attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country. Where are the kids protesting this?”
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) recently introduced legislation to help protect Christians and other religious minorities from widespread persecution in the West African country. Cruz introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025 to hold Nigerian government officials accountable by imposing “real costs” on country leaders who facilitate persecution.
Cruz’s legislation would impose targeted sanctions, including additional travel bans and asset freezes for officials the U.S. suspects of facilitating violence and the repressive blasphemy laws.