Trump Designates Nigeria ‘Country of Particular Concern’ Over Christian Persecution

The designation follows calls by Sen. Ted Cruz for sanctions against the country.

Christians gather for the crossover service held at Most Pure heart of Mary Catolic church in Ijebu Imushin, Nigeria, on Dec. 31, 2023. Samuel Alabi/AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump said on Oct. 31 that he would designate Nigeria a “country of particular concern” because of widespread violence toward and murder of Christians there.

“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter.”

The designation, which comes under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, adds Nigeria to a list of countries whose “government has engaged in or tolerated ‘particularly severe violations of religious freedom.’”

The most recent list, made in 2023, includes China, Iran, North Korea, and Saudi Arabia, among others.

The president also said he would appoint Reps. Riley Moore (R-W.V.) and Tom Cole (R-Okla.), along with the House Appropriations Committee, to probe into the matter and report back to him.

Ahead of Trump’s post, Moore had urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to add Nigeria to the “countries of particular concern” list.

“Horrific news out of northern Nigeria,” Moore said on X, detailing an attack on the village of Kaduna.

“A Pastor was shot and killed and 20 Christians were abducted. This is the second attack on this same Christian community just this month.”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) introduced legislation that would apply the same designation to Nigeria—along with sanctions—in September. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, put forth similar legislation in the House back in March.

According to the U.S. Council on International Religious Freedom, much of the persecution of Nigerians is fomented by Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram.

The group, whose name means “Western education is a sin,” began in 2002 in the Northeastern states of Yobe and Borno. It seeks to implement Sharia—a strict and oppressive form of Islamic law—and, in addition to attacking the local Christian population and burning down churches, has targeted police stations and government buildings.

Local reports of the kidnappings and murders—especially of clergy and nuns—are a recurring subject of social media posts.

According to a study by the Vatican’s Agenzia Fides, 145 Catholic priests were kidnapped in Nigeria between 2015 and 2025; 11 of those were killed, and four remain missing.

The rest were either released, or returned for ransom.

During a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa in March, Bishop Wilfred Anagbe said much of the violence is also being committed by nomadic herders from the Fulani ethnic group.

“A long-term, Islamic agenda to homogenize the population has been implemented, over several presidencies, through a strategy to reduce and eventually eliminate the Christian identity of half of the population,” he told the committee.

The group’s methodology includes rape, murder, and kidnapping, along with the seizure of land and the destruction of farmland, he said. The group is also known to attack non-Fulani Muslims.