WASHINGTON, DC – Nigerian Christians were slaughtered and slaughtered just for their faith.
Chris Smith (NJ-04), chair of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Subcommittee of Africa, held a parliamentary hearing on the ongoing violation of religious freedom in Nigeria. Expert witnesses joined Smith’s appeal to Secretary Marco Rubio, and used President Trump in his first term to help persecuted Christians in Nigeria to redesign Africa’s most populous nation as “a country of particular concern.”
“One Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of Nigeria’s Makurdi Diocese said, “The extremist Fulani Hazman is a terrorist. They killed, abused, raped, and they arrested an arrest from an elected civil servant. – Chairman Smith held a hearing.
“In December 2020, President Trump designated Nigeria as a country with special concerns only to reverse Nigeria in November 2021 without justification by Secretary Blinken,” Smith said. “Nigerian religious leaders were furious by Sec. Blinken’s decision.”
Smith – author of Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act (PL 114-281), who has ultimately expressed the need for the government to be held accountable for the abuse that occurs on their territory.
“Genocide Watch calls Nigeria the “sector of killing unprotected Christians,” Smith said. He reportedly reportedly had more than 52,000 Christians in Nigeria were targeted and killed by Islamic extremists, and since 2009, about 34,000 moderate non-Fulani Muslims have been killed in Muslim attacks.
Click here to read Chairman Smith’s opening statement.
Last year, the House Foreign Affairs Committee announced Smith’s resolution H. res. 82 Calls the Biden administration to redesign Nigeria to a country with special concern. I passed the committee on February 6th, 2024, but never came to the floor of my house. On March 11, 2025, Smith reintroduced his laws, now H.Res. 220.
“I strongly believe that President Trump will once again designate Nigeria as a CPC, but I will do more to support the persecuted churches, including outreach to Nigerian President Bora Tinuba – last night I reintroduced the resolution,” Smith said. “Help can’t come quickly enough.”
Testimony at a House hearing entitled “Conflicts and Persecutions in Nigeria: Cases of CPC Designation” was a witness. Tony Perkins is the former chairman of the US Committee on International Religious Freedom and is currently the chairman of the Family Research Council. Bishop Wilfred Anagbe, Catholic Bishop of Makurdi Parish, Nigeria, and Director of Africa Programmes for the Wilson Centre.
Bishop Wilfred Anagbe testified: This strategy includes both violent and non-violent actions, including the exclusion of Christians from positions of power, the acquiring of church members, rape of women, murder and expulsion of Christians, the destruction of farmlands of churches and Christian peasants, and subsequently the occupation of such lands, and occupation of such lands. All this will be done without government interference or retaliation. ” (Click here to read what Bishop Anagbe said.)
Director Xia told a House panel: “Nigeria is the finest country. Africa’s most populous country, the largest economy, and, surprisingly, the deadliest country in the world for Christians. In recent years, more Christians have been killed than all other places combined for their faith in Nigeria, have reported that a respected research group has opened. Currently, the militant group of nomadic Fulani Muslim herdsmen is reported to be the biggest threat to Nigerian Christians, especially Christians in the Middle Belt farming community. Its central area is the north intersection of most Muslims in Nigeria, mostly in the south of Christianity.” (Click here to read what Siah said.)
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“As the former USCIRF chair, we can see that we continue to overlook the accelerated violence and bloodshed that are currently taking place in Africa, which is being committed primarily by radical Muslim groups. In Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, vicious attacks and bloodshed, continues to surge weekly and monthly. Christians are the main targets of this terrorism, facing murder, rape, trickery and constant threats.” (Click here to read Mr. Parkin’s remarks.)
