United States Congressman Riley Moore has called for stronger international engagement with Nigeria’s worsening displacement crisis after a visit to several internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Benue State.
Mr Moore, who was in the state earlier in the week, said he met dozens of people who described attacks that forced them from their homes and left entire families dead.
Writing on X on Wednesday, the congress- man said the accounts he heard from survivors would “remain with me for the rest of my life.”
He said one woman told him she was forced to watch as her husband and five children were killed. Another said her child was ripped from her womb during an attack that claimed the rest of her family.
A man he met said his relatives were “hacked to death” and that his arm was permanently damaged while attempting to flee.
Mr Moore said more than 600,000 displaced Christians are currently living in camps across Benue, a state that has endured years of recurring violence in- volving armed groups and farming communities.
Mr Moore also held meetings with the Bishop of Makurdi, Wilfred Anagbe, Bishop Isaac Dugu of Katsina-Ala, and Tiv traditional ruler James Ioruza.
He described the engagement as “deeply moving,” adding that the United States “will not ignore what we heard from local communities.”
The visit forms part of a growing wave of international commentary on the crisis. Consultations.
Mr Moore said his trip to Nigeria included talks in Abuja with National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu and other senior officials.
He said discussions centred on terrorism in the North-east and persistent killings in the Middle Belt, which he described as priority issues for both President Donald Trump and himself.
He also praised the recent rescue of more than 100 abducted Catholic schoolchildren, noting what he described as “progress” through what he called an established joint US-Nigeria task force.
The NSA confirmed meeting the US delegation as part of ongoing counter-terrorism and security consultations.
Mr Ribadu said the talks followed earlier engagements in Washington and covered regional stability and ways to strengthen the strategic partnership between both countries.
This renewed diplomatic activity comes amid heightened tensions between Abuja and Washington following the Trump administration’s redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern over alleged religious freedom violations.
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