US military intervention did not protect Nigeria's Christians, lawyer says
A Nigerian human rights defender stated that attacks on Christians did not stop following US military intervention, and that militants merely changed their tactics.
On August 13, 2026, Nigerian lawyer and human rights defender Jabez Musa, who defends Christians from persecution, stated that US military intervention did not stop attacks on Christians in Nigeria, reports The Christian Post.
Jabez Musa said that following American airstrikes, militants have re-strategized and the attacks have increased instead in all the regions. And it is now going down to the southern part of Nigeria.
In late 2025, the United States carried out airstrikes against militants linked to the Islamic State in northern Nigeria, and in early 2026 deployed military personnel to assist in counter-terrorism operations. Most of the American contingent was subsequently withdrawn. In Musa's view, this prevented any long-term results from being achieved.
The human rights defender also spoke about ongoing kidnappings of Christians. During one attack on a church, militants seized a woman with three children. The family managed to escape, but a four-year-old girl died on the way home. Musa is also handling cases of girls who, according to him, are being kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam, and subjected to forced marriage.
Musa accused Nigerian authorities of failing to adequately protect Christian communities and called on the international community to respond more swiftly to what is happening. According to him, people continue to be killed and kidnapped, and many Christians are forced to leave their homes and live in camps for displaced persons.
The Union of Orthodox Journalists previously reported that a joint wedding was organized in Nigeria for 300 Christian and Muslim couples.
