Western nations have an obligation to defend Nigerian Christians being slaughtered by Boko Haram since many are being killed because the militant group views them as being “allies of the West,” says one Catholic priest from the African country.

According to Father Joseph Bature Fidelis of the Diocese of Maiduguri, “the rise of militant groups is growing very high and that should be the concern of Western leaders to say ‘we need to step in there and we need to help these people.’”

“It is very clearly stated by Boko Haram that they are persecuting Christians because they fear Christians are allies of the West,” he told Crux during a visit to the U.S. sponsored by the international papal charity Aid to the Church in Need, which supports suffering Christians around the globe.

While Bature said that Christians in Nigeria aren’t necessarily allies “in the strictest sense,” Boko Haram has targeted them for their support of Western civilization and Western education.