Press Release

                Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), the author of legislation (H.Res.220) calling upon the President to designate Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern,” applauded President Trump for taking such action today and admonishing the Nigerian government’s inability to address and combat widespread religious persecution of Christians in the region.

                “President Trump’s decisive action is a powerful step forward in holding the Nigerian government accountable for its complicity in the unchecked murder, rape, and torture of Christians by radical Islamists, such as Boko Haram and Fulani terrorists,” said Smith, who serves as Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee.

                “I am grateful that President Trump has restored Nigeria’s ‘CPC’ status, as he previously designated Nigeria a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ in December of 2020—only to be reversed without justification by Biden-appointed Secretary of State Antony Blinken less than a year later.”

                This past March, Smith chaired a critical congressional hearing on the crisis in Nigeria—entitled “Conflict and Persecution in Nigeria: The Case for a CPC Designation,”—at which it was reported that the InterSociety for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law found that “52,000 Christians have been killed and over 20,000 churches have been attacked and destroyed since 2009 by various Islamist extremist groups in Nigeria.”

                At that same hearing, Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of the diocese of Makurdi, Nigeria, said that “militant Fulani herdsman are terrorists. They steal and vandalize, they kill and boast about it, they kidnap and rape, and they enjoy total impunity from the elected officials. None of them have been arrested and brought to justice.”

                “The President’s announcement validates the cries and concerns of the many church leaders and practicing Christians in Nigeria, and it reflects the United States’ unfaltering intolerance for foreign governments who do not protect their citizens from religious persecution,” continued Smith, who has led numerous human rights trips to Nigeria and offered his first legislation calling for Nigeria’s “CPC” designation in 2023.

                Smith said that all the tools embedded in laws like the Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Act “need to be rigorously utilized,” including timely and faithful designations of “CPC” statuses for serious offenders; the meting out of sanctions on CPC designated countries; holding not just countries, but individuals, who persecute to account, including making such individuals inadmissible to the United States; enhanced religious freedom training for the foreign service, including ambassadors; and integrating religious freedom into every aspect of U.S. foreign policy.

                “I am hopeful and encouraged that President Trump and his administration will continue to work diligently to prevent and quell the religious persecution of Christians around the globe,” concluded Smith.

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