(1) Systemic religious persecution has persisted 
in Nigeria since at least 2009, including mass mur-
der, kidnappings, rape, village destruction, and 
forced displacement of persons, perpetrated by Boko 
Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province 
(ISWAP), Fulani militant groups, and other extrem-
ist organizations. 
(2) Estimates indicate that between 50,000 to 
125,000 Christians have been martyred between 
2009 and 2025, with more than 19,000 Christian 
churches attacked or destroyed. 
(3) Fulani-ethnic militias in Nigeria—including 
networks of armed groups engaged in organized at-
tacks on civilian communities—have carried out re-
peated acts of violence that meet the statutory defi-
nition of terrorist activity under section 212(a)(3) of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1182(a)(3)). 
(4) These militias have conducted attacks in-
volving targeted killings, hostage-taking, hijackings, 
armed assaults, massacres of civilians, destruction of 
property, and forced displacement of local popu-
lation. 
(5) Between May 2023 and May 2025, Fulani- 
ethnic militias carried out major massacres in Benue 
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and Plateau States—including attacks in Umogidi, 
Mgban, Yelwata, the Christmas Eve massacres of 
2023 and 2024, and the Holy Week and Easter at-
tacks of 2024 and 2025—killing more than 9,500 
people, mostly Christians, and displacing over half a 
million others. 
(6) The acts carried out by these militias are 
intended to intimidate, coerce, and displace civilian 
populations, disrupt local governance, and assert 
control over territory—actions that meet the criteria 
for designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization 
(FTO) under section 219 of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189). 
(7) The expansion of these militias undermines 
United States national security and foreign policy 
interests, destabilizes a strategically important re-
gion, jeopardizes religious freedom rights, and exac-
erbates the threat environment facing West Africa. 
(8) Nigerian Christian clergy and imams who 
have advocated for tolerance have been kidnapped, 
tortured, or murdered, with more than 250 religious 
leaders attacked or killed in the past decade, includ-
ing Father Sylvester Okechukwu in 2025. 
(9) Christian leaders such as Father Remigius 
Iyhula and Bishop Wilfred Anagbe, who testified be-
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fore Congress in March 2025 and November 2025, 
have faced intimidation and harassment as a direct 
result of their testimony regarding the sustained 
persecution they face. 
(10) Nigeria accounts for 72 percent of all 
Christians martyred worldwide, according to Open 
Doors’ 2026 Watch List. 
(11) Approximately 3.5 to 5 million Nigerians 
are internally displaced, and more than 343,000 re-
main refugees in the Lake Chad region. 
(12) It remains unclear whether any of the lim-
ited investigations into these violent attacks have led 
to prosecutions or convictions of jihadists. 
(13) Defending oneself from an attack can also 
lead to a death sentence like in the case of Sunday 
Jackson, a Christian farmer from Adamawa State, 
who was sentenced to death in 2021 for the killing 
of an armed Fulani herder, despite credible evidence 
that Mr. Jackson acted in self-defense after being 
violently attacked while working on his farmland. 
(14) In a show of good faith from the Nigerian 
Government, Jackson was pardoned in December 
2025 after spending a decade in prison. 
(15) Nigeria retains and enforces blasphemy 
laws carrying the death penalty in 12 northern 
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states under Sharia criminal law; such laws have 
been used to target Christians, Muslims, and dis-
senters. 
(16) Victims, such as Christians Rhoda Jatau 
and Deborah Yakubu, have suffered mob violence, 
imprisonment, or death for alleged blasphemy, while 
known perpetrators frequently face no punishment. 
(17) Sufi musician Yahaya Sharif-Aminu has 
been detained for 6 years in Kano State on blas-
phemy charges and faces the death penalty related 
to peaceful song lyrics; he is appealing his case to 
the Supreme Court of Nigeria. 
(18) The Nigerian Government routinely denies 
that religious persecution exists and has failed to 
adequately intervene, including on early warning no-
tifications of upcoming attacks, including the Octo-
ber 14, 2025, Plateau State massacre. 
(19) The United States Commission on Inter-
national Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has rec-
ommended Nigeria’s designation as a Country of 
Particular Concern (CPC) every year since 2009. 
(20) In 2020 and again in October 2025, Presi-
dent Donald J. Trump designated Nigeria a CPC 
pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act 
of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.). 
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(21) The prior administration’s removal of Ni-
geria from the CPC list in 2021 coincided with a 
marked escalation in religiously motivated violence. 
(22) Designating Nigeria as a CPC enhances 
diplomatic tools—including sanctions—to pressure 
the Nigerian Government to halt religious persecu-
tion, prosecute perpetrators, and protect vulnerable 
communities. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) President Donald Trump acted justly by 
designating Nigeria as a Country of Particular Con-
cern, in alignment with the recommendations pro-
vided by the United States Commission on Inter-
national Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and pursuant 
to the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 
(22 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.); 
(2) the Government of Nigeria has historically 
failed to adequately respond to or prevent religiously 
motivated violence and continues to tolerate impu-
nity by extremist actors, in part by denying the reli-
gious nature of such extremism; 
(3) the United States should use all available 
diplomatic, humanitarian, economic, and security 
tools to pressure the Government of Nigeria to— 
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(A) end impunity for perpetrators of mass 
atrocities and religious persecution; 
(B) protect Christian communities, clergy, 
and other targeted religious minorities; 
(C) enable the safe and voluntary return of 
internally displaced persons to their homelands, 
prioritizing persecuted Christian communities; 
and 
(D) ensure freedom of religion is protected 
by every level of government and that the prop-
er legal channels ensure this right remains 
wholly intact, including the repeal of blasphemy 
laws and release prisoners detained for their 
faith; 
(4) United States Government engagement has 
encouraged the Nigerian Government to take posi-
tive steps towards addressing these threats by ex-
tremist groups and are encouraged to engage in a 
bilateral agreement to protect these vulnerable com-
munities, eliminate jihadist terror activities, further 
economic cooperation, and counter mutual adver-
saries in the region; 
(5) there is bipartisan congressional support to 
consider appropriate security cooperation with Nige-
ria, including conditioning of foreign assistance as 
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was done in the Fiscal Year 2026 National Security, 
Department of State, and Related Programs Appro-
priations Bill signed into law by President Trump as 
part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, 
to enhance efforts to protect innocent lives; 
(6) the United States should deliver humani-
tarian assistance, co-funded by the Government of 
Nigeria, through trusted civil society organizations, 
including faith-based organizations, in Nigeria’s 
middle belt states; 
(7) the Department of State and the Depart-
ment of the Treasury should impose targeted sanc-
tions, including visa bans and asset freezes under 
the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability 
Act, on individuals or entities responsible for severe 
religious freedom violations, or report to Congress 
the reasons such sanctions have not been imposed, 
including— 
(A) Fulani-ethnic nomad militias in Nige-
ria; 
(B) Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, former Kano 
State Governor; 
(C) Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Associa-
tion of Nigeria (MACBAN); and 
(D) Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore; 
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(8) the Secretary of State should determine 
whether certain Fulani-ethnic militias in Nigeria 
qualify as a foreign terrorist organization under sec-
tion 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1189); 
(9) individuals and networks—domestic or for-
eign—that provide support to these Fulani-ethnic 
militias should be investigated and held accountable; 
(10) the Secretary of State should consider 
technical support to the Government of Nigeria to 
reduce and then eliminate violence from armed 
Fulani militias, including disarmament programs 
and comprehensive counter-terrorism cooperation to 
rid the region of Foreign Terrorist Organizations 
that pose a direct threat to the American homeland; 
(11) the Secretary of State should work with 
the Government of Nigeria to counteract the hostile 
foreign exploitation of Chinese illegal mining oper-
ations and their destabilizing practice of paying pro-
tection money to Fulani militias; 
(12) the Nigerian Government should thor-
oughly investigate instances of penalties or imprison-
ment under blasphemy laws or Sharia law and work 
to end these practices and repeal such laws; 
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(13) the United States stands in solidarity with 
Christians and all persecuted religious minorities in 
Nigeria in their right to practice their faith without 
fear of violence, persecution, or death, and a future 
goodwill relationship between the United States and 
Nigeria hinges upon the Nigerian Government’s re-
sponse moving forward to adequately address the 
atrocities described in this Act; 
(14) the Department of State is encouraged to 
enlist the support of international partners, includ-
ing France, Hungary, and the United Kingdom, to 
work with the Government of Nigeria to promote re-
ligious freedom and peace; and 
(15) the Government of Nigeria can play a key 
stabilizing role in the Sahel region and across the 
continent and is poised to deepen and strengthen 
their relationship with the United States if they will 
work with us to combat the persecution of Christians 
in Nigeria. 
SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter until Nige-
ria is no longer designated as a Country of Particular Con-
cern pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act 
of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.) and in accordance with 
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the recommendations provided by the United States Com-
mission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), 
the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, the Com-
mittee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, 
the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, and 
the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate a com-
prehensive report on United States efforts to address reli-
gious persecution and mass atrocities in Nigeria. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—Each report required by subsection 
(a) shall include the following: 
(1) An assessment of Nigeria’s compliance with 
the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, in-
cluding specific actions taken, or not taken, by the 
Government of Nigeria to prevent persecution, pros-
ecute perpetrators, repeal blasphemy laws, protect 
vulnerable communities, and facilitate the safe re-
turn of internally displaced persons. 
(2) Identification of all individuals and entities 
sanctioned, or under consideration for sanctions, 
under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Account-
ability Act or the Entities of Particular Concern list. 
(3) A description of co-investments and collabo-
rative efforts between the Government of Nigeria 
and the United States to provide and deliver human-
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itarian assistance to Christians displaced by the at-
tacks from Fulani-ethnic militias, through faith- 
based 
or 
nongovernmental 
partners, 
including 
amounts, recipients, type of assistance provided, and 
measurable outcomes. 
(4) An evaluation and description of historical, 
ongoing, and planned United States security assist-
ance to Nigeria, and a comprehensive assessment of 
whether such assistance risks enabling or exacer-
bating religious persecution. 
(5) Whether the Government of Nigeria is tak-
ing appropriate steps to cease enforcement of and 
repeal blasphemy laws, and to investigate instances 
of non-Muslims, Muslims, and dissenters being sub-
jected to Sharia law or blasphemy laws. 
(6) An assessment of conditions of internally 
displaced persons, including safety, humanitarian 
needs, and prospects for return. 
(7) Recommendations for further executive ac-
tions or congressional authority determined to be 
necessary and most helpful to halt the religious per-
secution and mass atrocities occurring in Nigeria. 
(8) An evaluation of any steps taken by the 
Government of Nigeria during the reporting period 
to address religious persecution, dismantle extremist 
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networks, prosecute attackers, reform security 
forces, or improve protection for at-risk commu-
nities. 
Æ 
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