The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa has approved measures urging President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on Nigeria due to the widespread persecution of Christians, following a congressional hearing on March 12.
Lawmakers condemned the Nigerian government for its failure to protect Christian communities from escalating violence, citing alarming data from multiple human rights organizations. A 2024 report by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa revealed that Nigeria accounted for 90% of all Christians killed globally each year. The report documented that between October 2019 and September 2023, at least 55,910 people were killed, and 21,000 others were abducted by terrorist groups operating in the country.
During the hearing, Committee Chairman Chris Smith (R-NJ) emphasized the severity of the crisis, referencing firsthand testimony from Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of the Diocese of Makurdi, Nigeria.
“Militant Fulani herdsmen are terrorists. They steal and vandalize, they kill and boast about it, they kidnap and rape, and they enjoy total impunity from elected officials,” Smith stated. “None of them have been arrested or brought to justice.”
Nigeria has consistently ranked among the deadliest countries for Christians, according to various organizations tracking global religious persecution.
International Christian Concern (ICC) reported that in 2023 alone, thousands of Christians were killed in Nigeria, with entire villages burned down by extremist groups.
“Terrorism, violent militancy, and local unrest continue to rock Nigeria’s many fragile Christian communities,” an ICC staffer said in ICC’s 2025 Global Persecution Index.
Islamic terror groups Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) are killing Christians in the northeast, while Islamic Fulani militants regularly kill Christians throughout the north. Fulani militants have killed more Christians than Boko Haram in Plateau, Benue, Niger, Nasarawa, and Southern Kaduna states.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has also warned that Nigeria’s security forces have failed to curb the violence and that in some cases, local officials have been complicit.
Lawmakers at the hearing expressed serious concerns about the Nigerian government’s failure to act, despite constitutional protections for religious freedom. The subcommittee’s report criticized Nigerian authorities for allowing extremist groups to operate with near-total impunity.
