US Congress launches sweeping investigation into Nigeria’s alleged Christian genocide

Trump

The United States House of Representatives Subcommittee on Africa will convene a public hearing on Thursday, November 20, 2025, to review President Donald Trump’s recent move to redesignate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.

If upheld by the Senate, the CPC label would open the door for Washington to impose sanctions on Nigerian officials implicated in religious repression and place limits on certain categories of US–Nigeria cooperation, Punch reports.The session, set for 11:00 a.m. in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building and streamed online, will be led by Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ). Two witness panels — featuring senior State Department officials and Nigerian faith leaders — are expected to provide testimony.

An invitation circulated to members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs read, “You are respectfully requested to attend an open hearing of the Committee on Foreign Affairs to be held by the Subcommittee on Africa at 11:00 a.m. in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building.”

Confirmed panellists include Jonathan Pratt, Senior Bureau Official for African Affairs, and Jacob McGee, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.

The second panel will include Nina Shea of the Centre for Religious Freedom; Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of the Makurdi Catholic Diocese; and Oge Onubogu of the Centre for Strategic & International Studies.

Lawmakers are expected to assess patterns of religious persecution in Nigeria and weigh potential US responses — from humanitarian support to punitive sanctions and deeper engagement with Abuja to curb spiralling violence.

President Trump had on October 31, 2025, redesignated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern,” triggering widespread debate over rising attacks on Christian communities. He attributed the decision to what he described as grave violations of religious liberty and the mass killing of Christians by extremist groups.