In a revealing and emotional disclosure, former Republican mayor of Blanco, Texas, Mike Arnold, has recounted how he deliberately drafted his will and made final arrangements before embarking on a controversial fact-finding mission to Nigeria—a trip that he says he believed could cost him his life. Arnold, who has led numerous investigations into violence against Christian communities in the Northern Nigeria and Middle Belt regions, insisted his actions were motivated by a deep sense of responsibility to “bear witness to the truth,” despite knowing the potential personal danger he faced.
Arnold made this startling revelation during an emotional press briefing in Abuja last week, where he presented the findings of his team’s multi-year investigation into attacks carried out by militant groups such as Boko Haram and ISWAP. The former mayor and founder of Africa Arise International said he had prepared for the worst, both psychologically and legally, before returning for his spirited six-day fact-finding mission sponsored by local officials and humanitarian organisations. “I drafted my will not because I expected to die, but because I understood the risk,” Arnold said. “I believed I could walk into a war zone, tell the world, and never walk out again.”
The purpose of Arnold’s visit, which he undertook upon invitation by the National Security Adviser and prominent commentator Reno Omokri, was to conduct a large-scale fact-finding mission into ongoing violence against Christian communities labeled by him as “a calculated genocide.” His declaration—that the attacks against Christians in Northern and Middle Belt Nigeria constitute genocide under international law—triggered intense public debate and diplomatic friction. The report, he said, is backed by over 80 hours of interviews, interviews with state and traditional leaders, firsthand visits to devastated communities, documentation of destroyed churches, and testimonies from orphans and survivors.
Arnold told reporters that despite advance threats and a tense security briefing, he chose to stay the course because he believed the world needed to hear the stories of victims. “I could not return to the United States and remain silent, not after seeing what I saw: mass graves, scorched villages, churches turned to rubble, and displaced families being denied aid,” he said. His team documented over four million displaced people—most of them Christians—living in camps in Jos, Bokkos, Gwoza, and Abuja, with many refugees resettled without compensation.
Arnold further revealed that in the days leading up to his departure, he received warnings from several Western embassies and private contacts that his life might be targeted by armed groups and so-called “state proxies.” Those warnings prompted him to prepare “papers that typically only soldiers, human rights lawyers, or investigative journalists prepare.” When asked whether he believed his life had ever been directly threatened, Arnold paused and said: “It’s hard to know for sure—you stay focused on the mission and avoid distractions, but you never dismiss the possibility.”
Arnold’s remarks drew contrasting reactions from Nigerian authorities and civil society. The government rejected his “genocide” classification and blamed terrorism and criminality for the killings. Local religious leaders emphasized that violence affects both Christians and Muslims, while civil right experts suggested that Arnold’s documentary was part of a wider effort by Western actors to pressure the government for geopolitical gains.
