More than 60 current and former National Football League players signed a letter Friday highlighting Christian persecution in Nigeria and urging U.S. officials to take action.

The letter, organized by Sports Spectrum and sent to recipients including House Speaker Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump, said “religious and ethnic persecution in Nigeria has reached a level that demands immediate, concrete action from the United States.” (RELATED: Islamic Extremists Prepare To Slaughter Hundreds On Christmas, Local Intel Warns)

“As current and former NFL players who care deeply about justice — here in America and around the world — we are grieved and outraged by the mounting violence, and we write to urge you to act now to confront religious persecution in Nigeria and ensure that those responsible are held to account,” the letter continued.

26 Sep 1999: Tony Dungy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looks on from the sidelines during a game against the Denver Broncos at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida. The Buccaneers defeated the Broncos 13-10. (Photo by: Andy Lyons /Allsport)

Signatories include 12 Super Bowl champions and Hall of Famer Tony Dungy. The letter details “relentless attacks, kidnappings and killings by extremist groups and criminal networks exploiting ethnic and religious divides” that affect Nigerians of all faith and make the country “among the most dangerous places in the world to live openly as a Christian.”

“This ongoing brutality not only devastates families and churches but also undermines regional stability and U.S. security and humanitarian interests,” the letter said.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu declared a nationwide security emergency following Trump’s late October designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, but the signatories said these actions haven’t been enough.

The players called the Nigerian army and security services “ineffective” and said previous U.S. statements condemning violence and recognizing the suffering are “no longer sufficient.”

The letter includes specific policy recommendations: increased intelligence sharing between the U.S. and Nigeria; conditioning military assistance and arms transfers on measurable benchmarks; supporting local security structures; imposing sanctions on involved parties; expanding humanitarian efforts; requiring quarterly congressional reports on the issue; and filling the vacant ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom position at the State Department, which has been empty for eight months.

The letter closes by saying the players feel a “moral responsibility to speak for those whose cries have gone unanswered for too long.”

“We ask you, as leaders of this nation, to use the full weight of your offices to defend the fundamental right to live and worship freely and to send a clear message that the United States will not stand by while Nigerians are targeted, terrorized, and killed because of their faith,” the letter concluded. “The lives at stake cannot wait.”