By Obinna Uballa
A Nigerian lawyer and human rights advocate, Franc Utoo, on Wednesday appeared before the United States Congress to accuse the Nigerian government of downplaying ongoing massacres and acts of genocide, particularly against Christian communities in the country’s Middle Belt region.
Utoo, a former Principal Special Assistant to the Governor of Benue State (2020–2023), also criticised the administration of President Bola Tinubu for allegedly diverting about $9 million of unbudgeted taxpayers’ funds to hire foreign lobbyists, rather than addressing the humanitarian crisis affecting thousands of displaced victims.
Speaking to U.S. lawmakers, Utoo said he was testifying not only as a lawyer and policy advocate but also as a direct survivor of attacks on Christian communities. He recounted that he hails from Yelwata community in Benue State, one of the areas most affected by violent attacks allegedly carried out by Fulani militias.
“I come from the epicenter of the genocide of Christians in Nigeria. My tribe, the TIV ethnic group, is the largest Christian ethnic group in the Middle Belt. We are facing an existential threat from Fulani militias, whose goal is to wipe our people off the face of the earth,” Utoo said, tracing the roots of the violence to historical campaigns dating back to the 1804 jihad.
He alleged that armed Fulani militias are expanding southwards, targeting ancestral lands belonging to predominantly Christian ethnic groups in Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa, Southern Kaduna, Taraba, and parts of Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, and Niger states. Utoo rejected claims that the killings were the result of communal clashes, arguing that Muslims reportedly killed in the violence were “collateral damage.”
Giving a harrowing personal account, Utoo described a June 13 attack on his village that left 278 people dead, including nephews, nieces, siblings, uncles, and aunts. He said:
“My youngest sibling is just three years old, and he, along with my 13 siblings and our two mothers, are currently living in an IDP camp. They survive on meagre rations, sometimes four children share a single pack of noodles. These are not just numbers; these are my family, my people.”
Utoo accused the Nigerian government of criminalising victims while shielding perpetrators. He cited a case in which two men who killed 12 cattle in self-defence were charged under the Terrorism Act 2022, while no arrests were made for the massacre of hundreds of villagers.
“Instead of solving this crisis, the government is spending millions to hire foreign lobbyists. That money could have provided relief to the displaced and ensured their return to ancestral lands, now occupied by Fulani militias,” he said.
Utoo appealed to the United States to use its moral authority to protect persecuted Christians in Nigeria, noting that critical decisions were being considered following Nigeria’s designation under the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommendations.
“You are the conscience of the free world. America’s might is in its moral authority. Please use it to defend us,” he urged.
