US lawmakers disagree over alleged Christian persecution in Nigeria

The United States House Subcommittee on Africa, on Thursday, held a sharply divided hearing on President Donald Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) over alleged persecution of Christians.

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Lawmakers split along two broad narratives, with some framing the crisis as “Christian genocide” and others warning against a dangerous oversimplification of Nigeria’s complex violence.

The subcommittee chairman, Chris Smith, opened the hearing by alleging “systematic and accelerating violence against predominantly Christian communities in Nigeria.” He said: “Nigeria is ground zero, the focal point of the most brutal and murderous anti-Christian persecution in the world today,” describing the session as “a very critical hearing.”

Mr Smith said it was his 12th such hearing on Nigeria and that he had led three human rights trips to the country.

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Lawmakers from both parties cited Nigeria’s worsening insecurity — mass killings, kidnappings and widespread impunity.

Appearing by video from Benue State, Bishop Wilfred Anagbe said the church in Nigeria faces burnings, mass displacement and targeted abductions of priests. “Nigeria remains the deadliest place on earth to be a Christian,” he said. “More believers are killed there annually than in the rest of the world combined.”

“This is not random violence. It is deliberate persecution,” Mr Smith insisted, while noting that moderate Muslims who challenge extremists are also murdered as part of what he called a “culture of denial.”

But the committee’s ranking member, Sara Jacobs, cautioned against “oversimplistic narratives,” saying multiple drivers — extremist insurgencies, farmer-herder conflict and organised banditry fuel the crisis.

She stressed that recent victims of kidnappings include Muslims. “The victims in the Kebbi State kidnapping were all Muslim girls. So, violence affects everyone. And false narratives perpetuate harmful stereotypes,” she said.

“Violence affects everyone,” Ms Jacobs added. “False narratives erase the real drivers of violence and make it harder to find solutions.”

She also condemned President Trump’s threat of “going into Nigeria guns blazing,” calling it reckless, illegal and “counterproductive.” She said she had worked on the US counter–Boko Haram strategy since 2013 and that the Trump administration cut peace-building tools “that proactively prevented and directly addressed the violence this administration is now concerned about.”

President Trump earlier warned: “If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the USA may very well go into that now disgraced country, guns-a-blazing…” Nigeria is one of 13 countries globally classified as CPC; it was first placed on the list during Mr Trump’s first term in 2020 before being removed by Joe Biden in 2021.

In his remarks, Rep. Jonathan Jackson rejected claims of one-sided religious war, arguing the crisis requires dialogue, not destruction.

“The idea that this nation is engaged in one-sided religious war is a dangerous fiction,” he said, noting that President Tinubu, “a muslim, married to an ordained christian minister.” He added that “out of the nine security chiefs, five are christians.”

He said: “To say that only christians are being persecuted, is to ignore the full difficult truth and suffering of Nigerians… Therefore, the answer will never be American bombs or boots on the ground.”

But Representative John James cast Nigeria’s crisis in stark terms, calling it “one of the gravest religious freedom crises in the world” and “the deadliest place on earth to be a Christian.” He claimed nearly 17,000 Christians have been killed since 2019.

It is unclear the source of his figures.

Earlier, Mr Smith cited figures he attributed to Open Doors and the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (InterSociety), saying “over 52,000 Christians in Nigeria have reportedly been targeted and killed… More than 7,000 have been murdered this year alone… Some 19,000 churches have been attacked.”

InterSociety’s numbers have circulated widely, including among Republicans such as Congressman Riley Moore, but the BBC recently described its methodology as “opaque” and found many claims unverifiable.

Of 70 media reports InterSociety cited for 2025, BBC analysis showed about half did not identify victims’ religion; adding up all deaths referenced yielded about 3,000, not 7,000. Some attacks appeared to be double-counted.

Data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) project which uses verifiable sources presents a different picture.

ACLED estimates just under 53,000 civilians of all faiths have been killed in targeted political violence since 2009. Between 2020 and September 2025, about 21,000 civilians were killed in abductions, attacks, sexual violence and bombings. ACLED identified 384 incidents where Christians were specifically targeted, leading to 317 deaths, and 417 Muslims killed in similar targeted attacks.

Congressman Bill Huizenga criticised the Tinubu administration for failing to stop attacks by “radicalised Islamists” and accused US lawmakers and the media of “downplaying” religious-related violence.

Citing personal ties to Nigerians, he said: “We’ve got people within the Congress denying that this is happening, or certainly de-emphasising it.” He questioned America’s humanitarian support in Benue and Taraba, claiming Benue alone has “1.4 million” displaced people.

Representative Pramila Jayapal pushed back saying: “The killings in Nigeria aren’t just the persecution of Christians. It is the persecution of multiple groups… to portray it as just persecution of Christians; that would be simplistic.”

Two senior State Department officials, Jonathan Pratt and Jacob McGee, defended the administration’s approach.

Mr Pratt described Nigeria’s situation as “a very serious security problem,” saying the US aims to “raise the protection of Christians to the top of the Nigerian government’s priorities.”

Mr McGee added: “The levels of violence and atrocities committed against Christians are appalling. … Nigerians are being attacked and killed because of their faith.”

Trump’s military action will endanger Christians – Oge Onubogu

Oge Onubogu, director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, warned at the hearing that US military intervention would worsen Nigeria’s fractures.

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“If the Trump administration proceeds with unilateral military action in Nigeria, it could endanger the Christians it aims to protect and worsen divisions along religious lines,” she said. US–Nigeria engagement, she added, must be “from a place of honesty” and Nigerians must “acknowledge something must be done quickly about the levels of insecurity.”

Ms Onubogu cautioned against a “narrow narrative that reduces Nigeria’s security situation to a single story.” Rep. Marlin Stutzman pressed her, saying: “If Nigeria’s government cannot stop the violence, they should be willing to ask the international community for help.”

As the hearing wrapped up, Mr Smith reiterated his warning: “The Nigerian government has a constitutional obligation to protect its citizens. If it cannot stop the slaughter, then America — and the world — must not look away.”