President Donald Trump is taking action against Nigeria to combat the ongoing Islamist persecution of Christians in the west African country.
Trump announced Friday he is designating Nigeria a “country of particular concern” and urged Republican lawmakers to take further action to address the mass slaughter of Christians in Nigeria.
“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a ‘COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN,'” Trump posted on Truth Social.
The “country of particular concern” designation is reserved for governments that have participated in or tolerated “particularly severe violations of religious freedom,” according to the State Department. The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 requires the president to annually review the status of religious freedom in countries worldwide and make designations accordingly.
Nigeria joins U.S. adversaries including Cuba, China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia on the countries of particular concern list. Trump’s move potentially opens the door to sanctions and other punishing actions against Nigeria because of the killings of Christians taking place.
Trump’s announcement comes after Republican lawmakers advocated for the administration to hold Nigeria accountable for violence against Christians. Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas), an evangelical Christian, and Representative Riley Moore (R., W.Va.), an outspoken Catholic, have been the leading advocates for Trump to make the designation.
“But that is the least of it. When Christians, or any such group, is slaughtered like is happening in Nigeria (3,100 versus 4,476 Worldwide), something must be done! I am asking Congressman Riley Moore, together with Chairman Tom Cole and the House Appropriations Committee, to immediately look into this matter, and report back to me,” Trump added.
“The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other Countries. We stand ready, willing, and able to save our Great Christian population around the World!”
Moore thanked Trump for the announcement and expressed enthusiasm about working with Representative Tom Cole (R., Okla.) to defend Nigerian Christians.
“Thank you, President @realDonaldTrump, for standing with Christians around the world by designating Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern. I look forward to working with your administration and Chairman Cole to defend our brothers and sisters in Christ,” Moore said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also expressed willingness to act against Nigeria for the ongoing Islamist violence against Christians.
“The ongoing slaughter of thousands of Christians in Nigeria by radical Islamists and Fulani ethnic militias is both tragic and unacceptable. As @POTUS said, the United States stands ready, willing, and able to act,” Rubio said.
Islamist groups, including Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa, are primarily responsible for the violence against Nigerian Christians. Boko Haram has a stronghold in northern Nigeria and is a well-known African terrorist organization.
Since Boko Haram’s insurgency in 2009, over 50,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria, according to a 2023 report from the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, a Nigerian watchdog group. During that time period, over 18,000 Christian churches and 2,000 Christian schools have been attacked. The report also concludes that 34,000 moderate Muslims have been killed by violent Jihadists.
A separate study from Vatican news outlet Agenzia Fides found that 145 priests were kidnapped in Nigeria over the past ten years. The abductions and attacks against Christians have continued apace this year, sparking outcry on social media and renewed attention to Jihadist violence in Nigeria. The Biden administration previously declined to take action against Nigeria despite the persistent violence against Christians during President Biden’s four-year term.
“We applaud President Donald Trump for his decisive action today in designating Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, recognizing the genocidal violence that has claimed over 50,000 Christian lives since 2009 and made Nigeria the deadliest place in the world to be a Christian,” said Andrea Piciotti-Bayer, director of the Conscience Project, a religious liberty advocacy group that has monitored the violence in Nigeria.
“We are grateful for President Trump’s moral leadership in defending religious freedom worldwide and standing with our suffering brothers and sisters who gather for worship knowing they may become martyrs for their faith.”