The United States House of Representatives is set to conduct a comprehensive investigation into allegations of widespread attacks against Christians in Nigeria, following President Donald Trump’s controversial redesignation of the West African nation as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC).
The House Subcommittee on Africa will convene an open hearing on Thursday, November 20, 2025, at 11:00 am in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The session, which will be available via live webcast, will be presided over by Representative Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey.
Key Witnesses to Testify
The hearing will feature testimony from two distinct panels. The first panel comprises senior officials from the U.S. State Department, including Jonathan Pratt, Senior Bureau Official of the Bureau of African Affairs, and Jacob McGee, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
The second panel includes Ms. Nina Shea, Director of the Centre for Religious Freedom, Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of Makurdi Catholic Diocese in Nigeria, and Ms. Oge Onubogu of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
Trump’s CPC Designation and Threats
On October 31, 2025, President Trump designated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern, citing what he described as severe violations of religious freedom and systematic persecution of Christians. Trump claimed that thousands of Christians were being killed by radical Islamists and warned that Christianity faced an existential threat in Nigeria.
In a strongly worded statement on November 1, 2025, Trump threatened to halt all aid and assistance to Nigeria if President Bola Tinubu’s administration failed to address the alleged persecution. He further warned of potential military intervention, stating the U.S. could enter Nigeria with “guns-a-blazing” to eliminate Islamic terrorists.
“I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our cherished Christians,” Trump declared.
Tinubu Rejects Allegations
President Tinubu swiftly rejected Trump’s characterization, describing it as a misrepresentation of Nigeria’s religious reality. In a statement on his official X handle, Tinubu emphasized that Nigeria remains committed to constitutional guarantees of religious liberty.
“Nigeria stands firmly as a democracy governed by constitutional guarantees of religious liberty. The characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality. Religious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identity and shall always remain so. Nigeria opposes religious persecution and does not encourage it,” the President stated.
Congressional Response and Investigation
U.S. Representative Riley Moore, in an interview with Fox News, revealed that Congress had already launched investigations through the House Appropriations Committee, working with other relevant stakeholders including the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Moore disputed President Tinubu’s pushback, stating: “Unfortunately, that is completely false. I mean, there are states in Nigeria that have blasphemy laws, people who are facing the death penalty right now for blasphemy against Islam. There’s a person right now who is held in prison for defending himself from an attack by a Muslim militant from the Fulani tribe.”
Moore claimed that the Christian-Muslim killing ratio in Nigeria stands at five to one, with five Christians being killed for every one Muslim. He defended U.S. intervention, arguing: “I think we absolutely do. We are a Christian nation and a nation that believes in the values and virtues of standing up for people who are being persecuted.”
Bishop Anagbe’s Testimony
Bishop Wilfred Anagbe, who will testify at the congressional hearing, has been vocal about Christian persecution in Nigeria. Speaking at an event in the United Kingdom Parliament on March 25, 2025, the bishop described how Christian communities in Benue State had been attacked by Islamist extremists and militant Fulani herdsmen.
“The militant Fulani herdsmen bear down on defenseless villagers without consequence. They follow orders to conquer, kill, and occupy. They attack even those who have managed to escape into our IDP camps,” Bishop Anagbe told UK parliamentarians.
He detailed how farmers were driven from their land, churches burned, and priests, religious leaders, and lay members killed in targeted attacks.
Different Congressional View
Last week, U.S. Congressman Bill Huizenga offered a more measured perspective during an interview with Arise TV, suggesting that military action was unlikely. Huizenga said Trump probably wanted the alleged killings to stop but doubted actual military intervention would occur.
“I too was surprised by the comments that they came out; that the President came out that forcefully. I suspect that that is not a high priority of having actual military intervention, specifically in Nigeria,” Huizenga said.
He emphasized that economic sanctions would be more effective in cutting off funding to terrorist groups operating in Nigeria.
Senate Action and Background
The CPC designation bill is currently before the U.S. Senate, sponsored by Senator Ted Cruz. Nigeria was first designated as a CPC by Trump in 2020, but President Joe Biden removed the country from the list after defeating Trump in the 2020 election. The current redesignation has reignited debate over religious freedom violations in Nigeria.
Pope Expresses Concern
Pope Leo XIV has voiced concern over alleged violence targeting Christians in Nigeria and other countries. In a post on his verified X handle on Sunday, the Pope lamented that Christians were suffering discrimination and persecution in various parts of the world.
“In various parts of the world, Christians suffer discrimination and persecution. I think especially of Bangladesh, Nigeria, Mozambique, Sudan, and other countries from which we frequently hear of attacks on communities and places of worship,” the Pope stated. “God is a merciful Father who desires peace among all His children!”
Nigerian Government’s Peace Efforts
In response to the escalating tensions and international scrutiny, President Tinubu dispatched an emissary, Dr. Abiodun Essiet, a Senior Special Assistant on Community Engagement in the North Central Zone, to Plateau State last Thursday. Essiet met with Christian clerics and Fulani Miyetti Allah community leaders in an effort to restore peace and foster inter-communal harmony.
During the visit, a conflict between a farm owner in Jos South and herdsmen was resolved. On November 15, the MACBAN Chairman of Bassa Local Government, Alhaji Isah Yau, paid N500,000 compensation to the farmer, David Toma, who subsequently released two cows he had seized following the destruction of his farm. All parties signed an undertaking to embrace peace in the state.
What the CPC Designation Means
The Country of Particular Concern designation, if ratified by the Senate, would authorize the U.S. to impose sanctions on Nigerian officials found complicit in religious persecution and limit certain forms of bilateral assistance. It also signals to the international community that religious freedom in Nigeria remains under serious threat.
The congressional hearing is expected to review the scope of religious persecution in Nigeria and consider policy responses, including targeted sanctions, humanitarian assistance, and collaboration with Nigerian authorities to prevent further violence.