US Congress Begins Full Investigation into Alleged Christian Genocide in Nigeria

• The US House Subcommittee on Africa has held preparations for a public hearing to review President Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern
• President Tinubu had rejected Trump’s claims of widespread Christian persecution and maintained that Nigeria upheld constitutional guarantees of religious freedom
• Witnesses, including top US officials and religious leaders, were scheduled to testify before lawmakers on alleged targeted attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria

The United States Congress is moving ahead with a detailed investigation into the growing claims of targeted attacks on Christians in Nigeria.

A public hearing convened by the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa has been scheduled for November 20, 2025, as lawmakers review President Donald Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, Vanguard reported.

The CPC listing, which awaits Senate ratification, could trigger sanctions against Nigerian officials accused of enabling or ignoring religious persecution. It also carries implications for security cooperation and development assistance, Punch reported.

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Congress reviews CPC implications

Representative Chris Smith will preside over the hearing at the Rayburn House Office Building. Two panels of witnesses are expected. Senior State Department officials Jonathan Pratt and Jacob McGee will address the first session.

The second panel will include Ms Nina Shea of the Centre for Religious Freedom, Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of Makurdi Catholic Diocese, and Ms Oge Onubogu of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

Briefing documents circulated to lawmakers indicate that the session will examine the scale of violence reported in parts of Nigeria and explore policy tools available to Washington.

These include targeted sanctions, humanitarian interventions, and possible collaboration with Abuja to curb attacks.

Trump reignited debate on the crisis when he issued the CPC redesignation on October 31.

He accused Nigerian authorities of failing to stop widespread assaults on Christian communities. He claimed the situation amounted to a threat to the survival of Christianity in the country. In a follow up statement, he warned that the United States could halt aid or consider military action if the killings continued.

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“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,” he said.

“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.”

President Bola Tinubu rejected the allegations.

In a statement posted on his X handle, he described the claims as a distortion of Nigeria’s religious reality and insisted that the country remains committed to freedom of worship.

“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,” he wrote.

Bishop Anagbe, who will address the lawmakers, has repeatedly raised concerns about repeated attacks in Benue and other states. He told UK parliamentarians in March that Christian communities were being displaced and that churches and farmlands had been destroyed by extremist groups.

The Senate version of the CPC review, sponsored by Senator Ted Cruz, is also moving through committee stages.

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As Congress prepares for the November hearing, the debate over the scale of the killings and Washington’s possible response has intensified, with some lawmakers insisting the United States must intervene to defend persecuted groups.

'US pursuing personal agenda' – Dambazau

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Lieutenant-General Abdulrahman Dambazau, former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) of Nigeria, said the US might be preparing to set up a military base in Nigeria.

Dambazau shared his thoughts at the seventh annual public lecture of the Just Friends Club of Nigeria in Abuja while addressing his country’s security challenges.

Source: Legit.ng