The United States House of Representatives Subcommittee on Africa will on Thursday, November 20, 2025, hold a high-profile open hearing to examine President Donald Trumpâs recent redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) over alleged religious freedom violations.
If upheld by the US Senate, the CPC label empowers Washington to impose targeted sanctions on Nigerian officials implicated in religious persecution and restrict some forms of bilateral assistance. The designation also sends a warning to the international community that religious freedom in Nigeria is âunder serious threat.â
The hearing, billed for 11:00 a.m. in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building and streamed live, will be chaired by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ). It will feature two panels comprising senior State Department officials and prominent Nigerian religious leaders.
An invitation to members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee requested their attendance at what is expected to be a consequential review of Nigeriaâs security and human rights situation.
Among the first panel of witnesses are Jonathan Pratt, Senior Bureau Official at the Bureau of African Affairs, and Jacob McGee, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.
The second panel features the Director of the Centre for Religious Freedom, Ms. Nina Shea; Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of the Makurdi Catholic Diocese; and Ms. Oge Onubogu of the Centre for Strategic & International Studies.
The hearing will explore the scale of religious persecution in Nigeria, assess US policy options, and consider measures such as sanctions, humanitarian support, and deeper cooperation with Nigeria to prevent further violence.
President Trump redesignated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern on October 31, 2025, citing what he described as severe and escalating attacks on Christians by extremist groups.
âThere is an existential threat to Christianity in Nigeria,â he said, warning that the US could take drastic actionâincluding halting all aid or even launching military operationsâif Nigeria fails to curb alleged killings of Christians.
In a statement on his X handle, President Bola Tinubu rejected Trumpâs claims as a âmisrepresentationâ of Nigeriaâs religious landscape.
âNigeria stands firmly as a democracy governed by constitutional guarantees of religious liberty,â he said. âReligious freedom and tolerance have always been core to our national identity.â
Nigeria was first placed on the CPC list by Trump in 2020 but removed by President Joe Biden after taking office.
Bishop Anagbe Raises Alarm In UK Parliament
One of Thursdayâs key witnesses, Bishop Wilfred Anagbe, has been vocal about attacks on Christian communities. Speaking in the UK Parliament on March 25, 2025, he described how Islamist extremists and militant Fulani herdsmen had ravaged communities in Benue Stateâburning homes, displacing families, and killing clergy and laity.
âThey bear down on defenceless villagers without consequence,â he told parliamentarians. âThey attack even those who escape into IDP camps.â
US Lawmakers Clash with Tinubu Administration
In a recent Fox News interview, Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV) insisted that the violence in Nigeria is severe and âfive times more Christians are being killed than people of other faiths.â
Moore dismissed Tinubuâs pushback as âcompletely false,â claiming evidence of blasphemy laws and death-penalty cases linked to religious disputes.
He said the US has a duty to intervene because it is âa Christian nation that stands up for the persecuted,â adding that all optionsâincluding sanctions and even âkinetic military actionââremain on the table.
Another US lawmaker, Rep. Bill Huizenga, told Arise TV last week that Trumpâs threats of military intervention were unlikely, but said the President is committed to ending what he views as genocide against Christians.
He argued that economic sanctions could help cut off funding to extremist groups such as Boko Haram and violent Fulani factions.
Pope Leo XIV Adds His Voice
Pope Leo XIV has also expressed concern about rising religious violence in Nigeria.
In a post on his verified X handle, the Pontiff lamented that Christians were facing discrimination and attacks in countries including Nigeria, Mozambique, Sudan, and Bangladesh.
âIn various parts of the world, Christians suffer discrimination and persecution,â he wrote, praying for peace and inter-religious harmony.
FG Moves To Ease Tensions In Plateau
Back home, President Tinubu has deployed a peace emissary, Dr Abiodun Essiet, to Plateau State in a bid to calm tensions and rebuild trust among warring communities.
Essiet, Tinubuâs Senior Special Assistant on Community Engagement (North Central), met with religious leaders, Fulani community heads, youth groups, and Christian clerics during her visit.
Her intervention reportedly helped resolve a conflict involving herdsmen and a farmland owner in Jos South, leading to a peace agreement and compensation payment supervised by local leaders.
According to a statement by presidential aide Bayo Onanuga, the President remains committed to promoting peaceful coexistence and strengthening grassroots dialogue structures across the North Central region.
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