WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2026 /Christian Newswire/ — Last week on Capitol Hill, Dede Laugesen, president of Save the Persecuted Christians, warned lawmakers on the “open-air Auschwitz” operating in Rijana forest.
Rijana forest is an area of dense forestation and brush that conceals terrorist hostage camps operated by Fulani militias in close proximity to known Nigerian military installations where kidnap-for-ransom victims are tortured, starved and often murdered whether ransom is paid or not.
Nigerian officials must be pressured to clear these terror dens and free the captives. Nothing will improve for Christians until the industrial-scale, widespread, kidnapping campaigns are disrupted.
On Sunday, in a coordinated attack on three churches, 160+ Christians were taken captive and hauled off into the Rijana forest.
“It was an honor to give remarks on Capitol Hill last week on the Genocide of Christians in Nigeria,” said Laugesen. “Many don’t know about the hostage camps in Rijana forest, where kidnap-for-ransom victims are tortured and starved until ransomed, or killed. Kidnapping has become an industry that is bankrupting entire Christian communities and forcing them off their lands and out of their homes. Millions upon millions are affected and made destitute by Fulani militant gangs, raising money to support more terror. In essence, Christians are being forced to fund the terror that haunts them day and night.”
A transcript is available at SaveThePersecutedChristians.org.
SOURCE Save the Persecuted Christians
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