A rare joint briefing of the U.S. House Appropriations and Foreign Affairs committees convened on Capitol Hill yesterday as lawmakers deepened their investigation into what they describe as intensifying and targeted attacks on Christians in Nigeria.
The closed-door session, led by House Appropriations Vice Chair and National Security Subcommittee Chairman Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.), forms part of a broader congressional report ordered by President Donald Trump on recent massacres of Nigerian Christians and possible U.S. policy responses. The effort is being coordinated by Reps. Riley Moore (R-W.Va.) and Tom Cole (R-Okla.), whom Trump tasked with probing the violence and presenting a comprehensive assessment to the White House.
Trump has repeatedly signalled that he is willing to consider direct military action against Islamist factions responsible for mass killings.
‘Religious freedom under siege’
Vicky Hartzler, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), delivered stark testimony, warning that Nigeria’s crisis had entered a dangerous new phase. She cited the abduction of more than 300 children in recent months and attacks in which “radical Muslims kill entire Christian villages and burn churches.”
Hartzler described the violations as “rampant” and “violent,” saying Christians were being targeted “at a 2.2 to 1 rate” compared with Muslims. While she acknowledged that Nigeria had reassigned roughly 100,000 police officers from VIP protection duties, she stressed that the country was facing “a coordinated and deeply troubling period of escalated violence.”
She recommended targeted sanctions on Nigerian officials deemed complicit in abuses, including visa bans and asset freezes. She also urged Congress to condition U.S. assistance on measurable accountability and to direct the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review how previous aid was deployed.
CFR scholar: Claims of equal targeting ‘a myth’
Dr. Ebenezer Obadare of the Council on Foreign Relations pushed back strongly against narratives claiming Christians and Muslims face equal risk. He argued that extremist groups such as Boko Haram attack “for one reason and one reason only: religion.”
Any higher Muslim casualty count, he said, was due purely to geography, not equal targeting.
Obadare also criticised Nigeria’s security establishment, calling the military “too corrupt and incompetent” to dismantle jihadist networks without sustained international pressure. He urged the U.S. to insist on the disbandment of armed groups enforcing Sharia law, confront corruption within the security forces, and demand immediate responses to intelligence warnings of impending attacks.
‘Deadliest country for Christians’
Sean Nelson of Alliance Defending Freedom International described Nigeria as “the deadliest country in the world for Christians,” claiming more Christians are killed there annually than in all other countries combined. Adjusting for population, he said Christians are killed at a rate “five times” higher than Muslims.
Nelson urged tighter U.S. oversight of Nigeria-related aid and suggested routing some funding through faith-based groups to reduce corruption. He also called for greater transparency in how Abuja handles mass kidnappings and ransom negotiations.
Biden administration criticised
During the session, Díaz-Balart faulted the Biden administration for reversing Trump’s 2020 designation of Nigeria as a “country of particular concern,” claiming the reversal had “clearly deadly consequences.”
With multiple committees now involved—including Appropriations, Foreign Affairs, and Financial Services—lawmakers signalled additional oversight actions in the coming months as they draft the Trump-requested report.
Signs of a shift in Abuja—but not enough
Hartzler noted that Nigeria had recently begun showing early signs of a policy shift. She highlighted President Bola Tinubu’s decision to redeploy about 100,000 police officers previously assigned to VIPs, calling it “a promising start after years of neglect.”
She pointed to remarks from Nigeria’s Speaker of the House, who acknowledged that the country was experiencing “a coordinated and deeply troubling period of escalated violence,” as well as calls from the House Majority Leader for more aggressive legislative oversight.
Still, she warned that the steps remain insufficient unless matched with transparency, swift responses to early warnings, and a clear commitment to confronting injustice.
The Nigerian Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
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