Faisal Salisu DambattaUnited States lawmakers have launched a brand new invoice geared toward confronting spiritual persecution in Nigeria, with a give attention to holding the federal government accountable for shielding susceptible communities, particularly Christians.
This was contained in a press launch issued on Tuesday by US lawmaker Riley Moore on his official web site.
The proposed laws, titled the Nigeria Spiritual Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026 (HR 7457), was sponsored by US lawmakers, Reps. Moore (R-WV) and Chairman of the Home International Affairs Africa Subcommittee, Chris Smith (R-NJ).
Cosponsors of the laws embrace Home Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK), Home International Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast (R-FL), Appropriations Subcommittee on Nationwide Safety and Associated Packages Chairman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), and International Affairs South and East Asia Subcommittee Chairman Invoice Huizenga (R-MI).
The invoice mandates the U.S. Secretary of State to submit an in depth report back to Congress on efforts to handle spiritual violence and mass atrocities in Nigeria.
Saying the invoice, Rep. Moore mentioned he had seen the state of affairs firsthand.
“For years, Christians in Nigeria have confronted unspeakable violence, church buildings burned, villages destroyed, households slaughtered, whereas the worldwide group appeared away.
“As a part of the investigation President Trump requested me to guide, I visited Nigeria and witnessed firsthand the horrors our brothers and sisters in Christ face and noticed the safety challenges Nigeria faces.”
Moore added that the laws was meant to ship a powerful sign, “That’s the reason I’m proud to introduce the Nigeria Spiritual Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026 with Consultant Chris Smith. This laws makes clear that the US stands with our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ and seeks to assist Nigeria tackle its many challenges.”
He additionally famous cooperation with Nigeria, saying, “I applaud the Nigerian authorities for working in coordination and cooperation with the Trump Administration to handle the safety challenges all through the nation. I stand able to proceed working to deepen and strengthen our relationship with Nigeria, as we work to avoid wasting Christian lives.”
Rep. Smith, who has chaired 13 congressional hearings on spiritual persecution in Nigeria, mentioned denial by Nigerian authorities had worsened the disaster.
“The Nigerian authorities’s blatant denial of the spiritual persecution occurring inside its borders has solely enabled the religious-based violence within the nation to fester, with Christian deaths and church assaults reaching unprecedented numbers,” Smith mentioned.
Smith confused that Washington should now act decisively.
“Now that President Trump has rightly redesignated Nigeria a ‘Nation of Explicit Concern,’ the US has a accountability to do its due diligence in guaranteeing that the Nigerian authorities is taking the correct steps to handle and punish the systemic violence in opposition to Christians and non-radical Muslims by Islamist extremists.”
He warned that failure to behave would solely embolden attackers.
“Inaction on the a part of each the Nigerian and U.S. governments solely emboldens these radical Islamist thugs to inflict much more distress, struggling, and dying,” Smith mentioned.
He added that the U.S. should “stay steadfast in its mission to advertise and defend spiritual freedoms all through the globe.”
Home International Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast additionally backed the invoice, stating, “The free world can not stand by as Christians face mass murders, kidnappings and brutal assaults by the hands of terrorist thugs and armed militias in Nigeria”.
He added, saying that, “The Nigerian authorities should do their half to remove the scourge of non secular persecution plaguing the nation.”
Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole described the trouble as each ethical and strategic.
“Defending spiritual liberty in Nigeria and worldwide is each an ethical obligation and a significant American curiosity,” Cole mentioned. “The Nigeria Spiritual Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026 makes it clear: spiritual persecution won’t be tolerated.”
If handed, the invoice would require a complete State Division report on Nigeria’s compliance with worldwide spiritual freedom requirements, remedy of internally displaced individuals, enforcement of blasphemy legal guidelines, safety help, and steps taken to prosecute perpetrators and dismantle extremist networks.
The transfer underscores renewed congressional strain on Nigeria to show concrete motion in defending spiritual freedom and ending violence linked to extremist teams.
In November 2025, Trump designated Nigeria as a rustic of specific concern, a transfer that permits the US government department to use diplomatic and financial measures.
Not lengthy after that, Moore visited Nigeria, the place he met with a delegation of senior members of the Nigerian authorities and visited the locations with essentially the most terror assaults.
The assembly, amongst others, centered on the alleged ongoing persecution of Christians and ongoing terrorist threats in Nigeria and alternatives for strengthened cooperation and coordination between the US and Nigeria to finish the bloodshed.
Moore confused that the US stands able to coordinate and cooperate with Nigeria because it won’t tolerate continued violence in opposition to Christians or different types of spiritual persecution.
He added that US President Donald Trump doesn’t make idle threats.
The US famous that Moore will proceed monitoring new developments and pushing the Nigerian authorities to just accept the open hand of cooperation to cease the continuing persecution and violence in opposition to Christians and fight the risk terrorist teams pose to the Nigerian inhabitants.
