Senior US State Department officials have told Congress that steps Nigeria has taken over the past year have not made Christians in the country’s Middle Belt any safer.
Speaking at Thursday’s House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa hearing, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Frank Garcia said the department was treating violence against Christian communities as a top priority and working closely with Nigerian authorities to hold those responsible to account. “Unfortunately, the violence has not stopped,” he said, according to Reuters.
Steps taken, results lacking
Riley Barnes, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, told lawmakers that since the US redesignated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern in late 2025, Nigeria had hired more police, deployed forest guards and increased arrests and prosecutions. But he said these measures had not yet led to greater safety for Christians in the Middle Belt.
Rep. Riley Moore, a West Virginia Republican, pointed to a sharp rise in violence against Christians in Plateau State and urged that the designation stay in place, saying Nigeria had not done enough. Subcommittee chair Rep. Chris Smith said Congress would consider what further measures might be needed and called for close attention to Nigeria’s coming elections.
Nigeria’s response
Nigeria’s government rejected the CPC designation last year, saying it was based on misinformation and faulty data. Nigerian leaders have said the country is fighting terrorism rather than a campaign against Christians, and that they welcome US help against Islamist insurgents as long as Nigeria’s territorial integrity is respected. Information Minister Mohammed Idris did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Insecurity is a leading issue ahead of Nigeria’s presidential and parliamentary elections, scheduled for 16 January 2027.
Read our earlier report: US Hearing Told Nigeria Remains World’s Deadliest Place for Christians.
Sources: Reuters via The Star, 13 November 2026; BusinessDay, 14 November 2026.
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