The United States House of Representatives has initiated a comprehensive investigation into alleged targeted attacks on Christians in Nigeria, as concerns deepen over rising religious violence in Africa’s most populous nation.
The House Subcommittee on Africa is expected to hold an open hearing on Thursday, November 20, 2025, to review former President Donald Trump’s recent redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for alleged violations of religious freedom. The designation, if upheld by the Senate, could pave the way for punitive measures, including targeted sanctions against implicated Nigerian officials and restrictions on certain forms of US assistance.
The hearing, scheduled for 11:00 a.m. at Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building and streamed live, will be chaired by Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ). It will feature two panels comprising senior US State Department officials and influential Nigerian religious leaders.
According to the invitation sent to members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and sighted by The PUNCH, panelists on the first segment include Jonathan Pratt, Senior Bureau Official in the Bureau of African Affairs, and Jacob McGee, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
A second panel will feature Director of the Centre for Religious Freedom, Nina Shea; Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of the Makurdi Catholic Diocese; and Ms Oge Onubogu of the Centre for Strategic & International Studies.
The congressional review will examine the extent of religious persecution in Nigeria, assess recent attacks blamed on extremist groups, and consider US policy options ranging from sanctions and enhanced humanitarian assistance to deeper collaboration with Nigerian authorities.
Trump’s October 31 designation of Nigeria as a CPC has amplified global debate on the country’s religious tensions. In a statement issued on November 1, the former president alleged that Christianity faced an “existential threat” in Nigeria, accusing “radical Islamists” of killing thousands of Christians. He warned that the US could halt aid or even consider military intervention if the Nigerian government failed to address the situation.
“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the USA will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now-disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” Trump said, directing the US Department of War to prepare for possible action.
President Bola Tinubu swiftly rejected Trump’s claims, describing them as a misrepresentation of Nigeria’s religious reality. In a statement on his official X handle, Tinubu reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to religious liberty and described the country’s long-standing culture of interfaith coexistence.
“Religious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identity. Nigeria opposes religious persecution and does not encourage it,” he said.
Nigeria was first designated a CPC in 2020 under the Trump administration, but the designation was lifted by President Joe Biden after he assumed office.
The renewed US scrutiny comes amid continued attacks on Christian communities, including killings, kidnappings, and the destruction of places of worship. Bishop Anagbe, among those set to testify before Congress, recently briefed members of the UK Parliament on March 25, 2025, where he lamented the displacement of communities in Benue State as a result of attacks by extremist groups and militant Fulani herders.
Describing the plight of his diocese, he said: “The militant Fulani herdsmen bear down on defenceless villagers without consequence. They follow orders to conquer, kill, and occupy. They attack even those who have managed to escape into our IDP camps.”
In a separate interview with Fox News, US Representative Riley Moore (R-WV) criticised Tinubu’s dismissal of Trump’s claims, insisting that evidence pointed to ongoing persecution. He referenced blasphemy laws in some Nigerian states and alleged cases of Christians facing the death penalty.
“The deaths we have been able to verify are five to one—five Christians to every Muslim killed in Nigeria,” Moore said, adding that the US had a moral responsibility to intervene.
The debate has also drawn the attention of global religious leaders. On Sunday, Pope Leo XIV expressed deep concern over rising violence against Christians in Nigeria and other countries. In a post on his official X account, the Pontiff noted that worship centres across Nigeria, Mozambique, Sudan, and Bangladesh had come under repeated attack.
“In various parts of the world, Christians suffer discrimination and persecution… Let us pray that all violence may cease and that believers may work together for the common good,” he wrote.
The bill endorsing the CPC designation is currently before the US Senate and is sponsored by Senator Ted Cruz.
As Washington prepares for Thursday’s hearing, Nigeria’s religious landscape faces intense international scrutiny—one that could shape future US–Nigeria relations and the global response to religious persecution.
