Congressional Hearing Opens November 20<\/strong><\/p>\nThe House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa will convene the hearing on Thursday, November 20, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The session, chaired by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), will be broadcast live via webcast.<\/p>\n
According to an invitation sent to committee members, the hearing will feature two witness panels.<\/p>\n
The first panel includes:
\nJonathan Pratt, Senior Bureau Official, Bureau of African Affairs
\nJacob McGee, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor<\/p>\n
The second panel consists of:
\nNina Shea, Director, Centre for Religious Freedom
\nBishop Wilfred Anagbe, Makurdi Catholic Diocese, Nigeria
\nOge Onubogu, Centre for Strategic & International Studies<\/p>\n
Lawmakers are expected to examine the extent of religious persecution in Nigeria and explore policy responses, including sanctions on Nigerian officials, humanitarian intervention, and potential collaboration with Abuja to curb attacks on religious communities.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s Redesignation Sparks Global Debate<\/strong><\/p>\nOn October 31, 2025, President Donald Trump redesignated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, citing severe violations of religious freedom, particularly against Christians. The designation\u2014if upheld by the Senate\u2014could unlock a range of punitive measures, including sanctions and restrictions on bilateral aid.
\nTrump\u2019s statement, issued on November 1, accused Nigerian authorities of failing to stop \u201cradical Islamists\u201d from killing Christians and warned that the US could launch military action if the situation did not improve.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf 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, \u2018guns-a-blazing,\u2019\u201d Trump declared.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action.\u201d
\nA related bill is also pending before the US Senate, sponsored by Senator Ted Cruz.
\nNigeria was first placed on the CPC list by Trump in 2020 before President Joe Biden removed it after taking office.<\/p>\n
Tinubu Rejects Accusations<\/strong><\/p>\nPresident Bola Tinubu swiftly dismissed Trump\u2019s allegations, calling them a misrepresentation of Nigeria\u2019s religious landscape.<\/p>\n
In a statement posted on his official X handle, Tinubu insisted the country remains committed to constitutional guarantees of religious freedom.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cReligious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identity.\u201d<\/p>\n
US Lawmakers Press Nigeria<\/strong><\/p>\nIn an interview with Fox News, Congressman Riley Moore (R-WV) said Congress has begun investigating the alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is going on in the country is horrific\u2026 we\u2019re going to stop this,\u201d Moore said, accusing the Nigerian government of complicity.<\/p>\n
He also claimed that Christian deaths outnumber Muslim deaths \u201cfive to one.\u201d
\nMoore argued that the US has a moral and strategic obligation to intervene:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a Christian nation\u2026 The President has put all options on the table, including military kinetic action.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nigerian communities across the United States are preparing for a major rally in the US capital to protest what organisers describe as a \u201cChristian genocide\u201d in Nigeria. The demonstration, coordinated by the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) USA, is scheduled for December 1, 2025, coming just 11 days after the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":95796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,5787],"tags":[3601,2284,249,3639,7500,577],"class_list":["post-96040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-world","tag-christian","tag-genocide","tag-nigeria","tag-rally","tag-sng","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=96040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/95796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=96040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=96040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=96040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}