Violence against Christians in Nigeria remains a key concern, the Department of State has said, one year after the Trump administration designated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) and accused Abuja of violating religious freedoms.
Assistant Secretary of State Frank Garcia, from the Bureau of African Affairs, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Africa, on Nov. 12 that the State Department was treating the issue as a top priority and was working with Nigerian authorities to address the violence against Christians.
On Oct. 31, 2025, President Donald Trump said that he would designate Nigeria a CPC because of widespread violence toward and murder of Christians in the West African country.
“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria,” Trump said on Truth Social at the time. “Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter.”
Nigeria is home to more than 200 ethnic groups that practice Christianity, Islam, and traditional religions.
The designation, which comes under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, adds Nigeria to a list of countries whose “government has engaged in or tolerated ‘particularly severe violations of religious freedom.’”
The Nigerian government rejected the designation at the time, saying it was based on misinformation and faulty data.
Referencing that designation, Garcia said it “reflects the seriousness with which this administration views the targeting of Christians.”
Violence Has Not Stopped
“Since that designation, the department has treated this issue as a top priority, working intensively with our Nigerian counterparts to confront the persecution of Christian communities and to hold perpetrators for this violence accountable,” Garcia said.
“Unfortunately, the violence has not stopped.”
The assistant secretary of state cited incidents of violent attacks on Christian communities, including in Kaduna and Plateau State over the summer.
Garcia said these incidents “show that violence continues to plague Christian communities.”
“This is not a distant problem; it’s an ongoing atrocity, and this administration is treating it like one,” he said.
He said the department is engaging with the Nigerian government, forming the U.S.–Nigeria Joint Working Group after the CPC designation, and meeting with officials in Abuja and Washington.
“We are expecting results,” Garcia said, including increased security to protect Christian communities in the Middle Belt, more timely and effective responses to early warnings of potential attacks, and law enforcement deployments.
The United States has helped Nigeria build its security capacity, he said, including providing training and equipment to police units that protect vulnerable communities in the Middle Belt.
Nigerian leaders have previously said the country is dealing with terrorism, not persecution of Christians. They said they would welcome help from the United States in fighting Islamist insurgents, so long as Nigeria’s territorial integrity is respected.
The country is facing other security challenges, including banditry and farmer-herder clashes in its northern regions and kidnapping for ransom in the south.
The Epoch Times contacted the Nigerian government for comment but did not receive a response by publication.
Reuters and Stacy Robinson contributed to this report.
