Nigeria is the deadliest nation in the world for Christians, and China is complicit in creating the conditions for the violence to continue, according to Rep. Riley Moore.
Following increased reports of mass killings of Christians in Nigeria, President Donald Trump commissioned the West Virginia Republican in October to investigate the situation and report back to him.
After presenting his findings and recommendations to Trump administration senior staff in February, Moore says one of the critical issues outlined in the report is “the illicit mining that’s being done by the Chinese” in Nigeria.
“These are rare earth minerals that they’re mining,” Moore told The Daily Signal. The Chinese “will bribe and pay off these local [Nigerian] government officials and bribe them to just turn the other way while they conduct this illegal, illicit mining.”
China dominates the rare earth mining industry, producing about 70% of rare earth minerals and manufacturing 93% of high-strength rare earth permanent magnets, according to Africa Center for Strategic Studies, a research organization based in Washington, D.C.
The Atlantic Council reports China’s involvement “in mining across West Africa is linked to organized crime and the proliferation of weapons.”
“Illegal mining has also become a funding source for armed groups and terrorists, such as Boko Haram and bandits in the Nigerian state of Zamfara,” the council outlined in a 2025 report.
Given the danger and lack of security in Nigeria, the Chinese are paying radical Islamist Fulani militants, one of the primary groups persecuting Christians, “for protection,” according to Moore. He said the payment in turn helps “fund the Fulanis’ persecution of Christians.”
Christians have faced persecution in Nigeria for more than two decades, but violence against followers of Jesus grew far worse with the rise of Boko Haram in 2009, according to Global Christian Relief, and has now further increased due to persecution by radical Fulani Muslims.
More than 50,000 Christians are estimated to have been killed in Nigeria since 2009.
The Fulani people are an ethnic group across West Africa who mainly raise cattle, while Christians are primarily farmers in Nigeria. In addition to the ideological divisions between Christians and Fulani Muslims, the two groups are also at odds over cattle grazing on farms and Christians driving the cattle off their farms.
Despite much of the news, and Trump’s attention, being focused on Operation Eric Fury in Iran, Moore says he is confident the issue of Nigeria remains a priority for the administration.
In October, Trump announced he was designating Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern. The United States has also committed about 200 troops to Nigeria to train and advise the local army to combat Islamic terrorist threats.
“This is something that is certainly important to the president, obviously very important to me as well,” Moore said, adding, “We can walk and chew gum at the same time. We’ve proven that previously, and nobody can do that better than this president [who] certainly is able to handle multidimensional issues in different parts of the world. And also back home.”
Moore has recommended the U.S. and Nigeria form a “bilateral agreement” to “protect vulnerable Christian communities from violent persecution, eliminate jihadist terror activity in the region, further economic cooperation, and counter adversaries in the region, including the Chinese Communist Party and Russian Federation.”
Such an agreement should include technical support to Nigeria’s government to reduce violence, Moore recommends, to include countering “the hostile foreign exploitation of Chinese illegal mining operations and their destabilizing practice of paying protection money to Fulani militias.”
The U.S. is in a unique position “where we actually have an opportunity … to deepen and strengthen our relationship in the Sahel region of Africa with the largest country in Africa by population and economy,” Moore said. “That is important, and we can do that … through addressing these issues of insecurity and the persecution of Christians.”