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US Senators Cry Out over Selective Massacre of Christians, Seek Re-designation of Nigeria As ‘Country of Particular Concern’
A group of Republican Senators has written to the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, urging him to consider re-designating Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), citing what they described as “continued unchecked acts of violence and terrorism against religious minorities” in the country.
The lawmakers allege that the Christians are being subjected to massive violence in Nigeria.
The letter was signed by Senators Ted Budd, Josh Hawley, Pete Ricketts, Ted Cruz, and James Lankford.
In their letter, the Senators stated: “We write to urge you to consider designating Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) to give the President additional authority to take specific actions to address the continued unchecked acts of violence and terrorism against religious minorities perpetrated by non-State actors in Nigeria.”
The lawmakers recalled: “As you know, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo designated Nigeria as a CPC in December 2020, for the ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom perpetrated within its borders, particularly by nonstate actors such as Boko Haram and other terrorist groups.”
They also noted: “While Secretary of State Antony Blinken removed Nigeria from the CPC list in 2021, on March 25, 2025, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended that Nigeria be placed once again on the CPC list, citing several incidents of violence and terrorism against religious minorities.”
The Senators referenced several deadly incidents in Nigeria, including mass killings and kidnappings targeting Christians.
“In May 2024, al-Qaeda-affiliated Ansaru gunmen reportedly kidnapped 160 mainly Christian children and killed eight people in Niger State but later released the abducted children…..in Niger State, suspected bandits killed 10 farmers, including Christians, and in August, bandits reportedly killed 70 Christians and kidnapped 20 students in separate attacks in Benue State.”
They added: “Most recently, in late June 2025, reports suggest that at least 200 Christians in Nigeria were brutally killed by terrorists in Benue state.”
“This same report suggests that Nigeria is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be Christian, citing 3,100 of the 4,476 Christians killed during their reporting period lived in Nigeria.”
The Senators further referenced actions taken by former U.S. President Donald Trump to promote religious freedom, including an executive order establishing the Religious Liberty Commission.
“As you know, on May 1, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order to establish the Religious Liberty Commission with the intent for this commission to vigorously enforce the historic and robust protections for religious liberty enshrined in Federal law and to work with the White House Faith Office to partner with the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom to further the cause of religious liberty around the world’.”
They also recalled Trump’s 2019 global appeal at the United Nations: “On September 23, 2019, President Trump issued a global call to condemn religious persecution and defend the freedom of all believers stating that:
‘Today with one clear voice, the United States of America calls upon the nations of the world to end religious persecution.’”
“To stop crimes against people of faith, release prisoners of conscience, repeal laws restricting freedom of religion and belief…America stands with believers in every country who ask only for the freedom to live according to the faith that is within their own hearts?.”
Concluding their letter, the Senators expressed gratitude for Trump’s role in advancing religious liberty and urged Secretary Rubio to act decisively.
“We are grateful for President Trump and your work to champion our founding freedoms at home, as well as to condemn religious persecution around the world. We hope you will carefully consider designating Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA). We look forward to hearing from you.”
Previously, SaharaReporters reported that United States expressed “deep concern” over persistent violence against Christians and other vulnerable groups in Nigeria, warning that the government in Abuja must take stronger action to protect its citizens from terrorist attacks.
This comes after American comedian Bill Maher drew attention to the rising number of Christians killed by extremist groups such as Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa.
In a statement to Newsweek, the US State Department confirmed it has repeatedly raised the issue with the Nigerian government at the highest levels.
“The United States remains deeply concerned about the levels of violence against Christians and members of other groups in Nigeria, including the threats posed by terrorist groups like Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa in northern Nigeria. We have raised these issues with the Nigerian government at the highest levels,” the statement said.
The Department stressed that Nigeria must act more decisively to halt repeated attacks on religious communities, insisting that its laws must align with commitments to religious freedom.
International advocacy group Open Doors ranks Nigeria as the seventh most dangerous place in the world for Christians, noting that “more Christians are killed for their faith in Nigeria than in the rest of the world combined.”
The Nigerian government has dismissed reports suggesting that terrorists in Nigeria are carrying out a systematic genocide against Christians, describing such claims as “false, baseless, despicable, and divisive.”
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expelled Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike, its suspended National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, and former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose.
Their expulsion was announced on Saturday at the party’s National Convention in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has insisted that there is Christian genocide ongoing in Nigeria, hence demanding end to the alleged Christian killings.
Speaking on Thursday after an emergency executive meeting of the Fellowship held at its national headquarters in Lagos, PFN President, Bishop Francis Wale Oke, said the body would no longer remain silent while Christians are “targeted, killed, raped, and displaced” across the country.
He said: “There is Christian genocide going on in Nigeria. If we call it by any other name, it will bring Nigeria down. We are crying out to our international friends, beginning with America and Donald Trump. Whatever you can do to help our government put an end to it, come quickly and get it done. When on Christmas Day, Christmas Day was turned a bloody day in Benue State, and hundreds were massacred. And we are to be conducting mass funerals when we are not in open conflict. What do you call that? And this is different from individual cases.
“Let us call a spade a spade. There is Christian genocide ongoing in Nigeria,”Bishop Oke declared.
“Even while we speak, killings are still taking place in Borno, Plateau, and Benue states. When 501 Christians were massacred in Dogon Noma in Plateau, what do we call that? When Christmas Day turned into a bloody day in Benue, with hundreds massacred, what name should we give it?
While noting that the United States President Donald Trump spoke the truth, the PRN President cited the case of Leah Sharibu who was abducted alongside other Chibok girls and has since remained in captivity.
“Like the case of Leah Sharibu. Where is Leah Sharibu? Like the case of Deborah that was lynched and burned alive in Sokoto? What about that? And several of our girls were kidnapped and forced, given out as wives by force without the consent of their parents and their Christian parents. And the Christian parents would not see them for years.And this has been going on. We have been talking and we are not taking it seriously. And it has been going on again and again, until Donald Trump now spoke. And Donald Trump spoke the truth. There is Christian genocide going on in Nigeria.
“Like you will have picked in the news, even since this narrative began, killing was still going on in Borno, in Plateau, in Benue, up until yesterday. What are we saying? When 501 Christians were massacred in Dogonaya in Plateau State, what do we call that? And for no offense other than they are Christians.”
Oke recalled that the Christian community had repeatedly called the attention of the government to the alleged genocide with no decisive action from the authority.
The cleric expressed his backing for President Trump’s intervention, adding that Trump only echoed what Nigerian Christians had been saying for year
“I was part of the team that went to see the immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari. We spoke very strongly about this and the President listened to us, but he completely ignored the main issue we came for, If we came and spoke with such vehemence, with such passion, and then you pick the peripheral matter and left this matter alone, I knew that day that his government was complicit in what was going on,” he added.
Oke alleged that the killings across parts of Nigeria were systematic and targeted on Christians, lamenting that the killings had continued unchecked despite repeated appeals from the Church.
“The evidence is all over the place. There is nothing anybody can say that can whitewash it. It is evil, it is blood shedding, it is mass murder and it is genocide. The time to stop it is now. That is what the church in Nigeria is saying with one voice.
“Christians in this nation must be free to practice their faith in any part of Nigeria as bona fide citizens of Nigeria.
“These armed bandits, Fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram, ISWAP, all of them using Islam as a cover. We have been living in peace with our Muslim brothers for a long, until this violent Islamic sect came up with an intent to make sure they impose Sharia on all Nigerians,” Oke said.
Bishop Oke called on President Bola Tinubu to decisively overhaul the nation’s security architecture, and ensure justice for victims of religious violence. He questioned why those responsible for notorious attacks—such as the killing of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto and the abduction of Leah Sharibu and the Chibok schoolgirls—remain unpunished.
“The government should prove by action, not words, that it is not complicit,” he said. “When hundreds are buried in mass graves and the whole world sees it, who can deny it? Why should we play politics with the blood of Nigerians?”
The PFN urged President Tinubu’s administration to rebuild trust by ensuring that the security architecture of the country is not infiltrated by those sympathetic to extremist ideologies.
Oke further condemned the government’s rehabilitation of so-called “repentant terrorists,” describing the move as a grave security.
He assured Christians that the PFN would continue to speak out until the killings stop. “We are not going to keep quiet. We will keep raising our voices until justice is done and every Nigerian, regardless of faith, can live in peace. The truth may be suppressed for a time, but it cannot be buried forever,” he said.
The meeting, which drew PFN leaders from across the country, reaffirmed the body’s commitment to national unity, peace, and the protection of fundamental human rights, while urging the media to “side with the oppressed” and report the truth without fear or bias.
US President Donald Trump has signed a federal spending bill, officially ending the longest government shutdown in American history.
The legislation, passed by the House of Representatives in a 222–209 vote, followed narrow approval in the Senate just two days earlier. The bill restores funding to federal agencies after 43 days of closure, bringing relief to millions of government employees and citizens affected by halted services.
Speaking after signing the measure on Wednesday night, Trump described the deal as a political victory, asserting that Democrats unnecessarily prolonged the shutdown.
“They didn’t want to do it the easy way. They had to do it the hard way, and they look very bad,” he said.
The temporary funding bill maintains government operations only through 30 January, creating a new deadline for lawmakers to negotiate a long-term budget solution.
As part of the agreement, Senate leaders committed to an early December vote on Obamacare subsidies, a key priority for Democrats during the shutdown standoff.
In addition to reopening federal offices, the bill provides full-year funding for the Department of Agriculture, military construction projects, and several legislative branch offices.
It also ensures retroactive pay for federal workers affected by the shutdown and allocates funding to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, which helps about one in eight Americans access food.
The shutdown, which began in October, forced the suspension of many government services, leaving an estimated 1.4 million federal employees either furloughed or working without pay. It also disrupted food assistance programmes and caused widespread delays in domestic air travel.
With federal operations now resumed, attention in Washington has turned to whether Congress and the White House can reach a longer-term funding agreement before the new deadline at the end of January.
