The United States Congress has given President Donald Trump the green light to impose severe sanctions on Nigeria following reports that Nigerians account for 90 percent of Christians killed worldwide each year.
Chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Chris Smith, announced the decision after a congressional hearing on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
The session featured testimonies, including that of Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of Makurdi, who described militant Fulani herdsmen as terrorists operating with impunity.
Smith criticized the Nigerian government for failing to protect Christians, citing a report by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa, which documented over 55,000 killings and 21,000 abductions linked to religious violence between 2019 and 2023.
He also blamed the previous Biden administration for removing Nigeria from the Country of Particular Concern (CPC) list, a designation Trump had initially placed on the country.
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Urging Trump to take decisive action, Smith reintroduced a resolution calling for renewed CPC designation and potential sanctions if the violence continues.
He stressed that intervention was necessary to stop what he termed “religious cleansing” and to hold perpetrators accountable.
“This hearing should be a catalyst for action,” Smith stated, adding that where sanctions have been enforced, change has followed.”
He expressed confidence that Trump would take the necessary steps, including engaging Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on the crisis.
