The United States Department of State on Wednesday announced measures aimed at addressing what it described as mass killings and attacks targeting Christians in Nigeria.
The move signals that the US is considering visa restrictions against individuals and groups implicated in the violence.
“The United States is taking decisive action in response to the mass killings and attacks on Christians carried out by radical Islamic terrorists, Fulani militias, and other violent groups in Nigeria and beyond,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement.
Under the new policy, implemented through Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the State Department can restrict visas for anyone who has “directed, authorised, significantly supported, participated in, or carried out violations of religious freedom,” and, where appropriate, extend the restrictions to their immediate family members.
Rubio added that these measures could be applied “to Nigeria and any other governments or individuals engaged in violations of religious freedom,” underscoring Washington’s concern over the rising attacks on vulnerable faith communities.
The announcement followed a briefing by US House Republicans on Tuesday, highlighting rising religious violence in Nigeria.
The session was convened at the direction of President Donald Trump, who instructed the House Appropriations Committee on October 31 to investigate what he described as the slaughter of Christians in the country.
The briefing, led by House Appropriations Vice Chair and National Security Subcommittee Chairman Mario Díaz-Balart, included members of the House Appropriations and House Foreign Affairs Committees, as well as religious freedom experts. Participants included Representatives Robert Aderholt, Riley Moore, Brian Mast, Chris Smith, US Commission on International Religious Freedom Chair Vicky Hartzler, Alliance Defending Freedom International’s Sean Nelson, and Dr Ebenezer Obadare of the Council on Foreign Relations.
President Bola Tinubu recently approved Nigeria’s delegation to the new US–Nigeria Joint Working Group, formed to implement security agreements from high-level talks in Washington led by National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
The move follows growing concerns over terrorism, banditry, and targeted attacks on Christians in Nigeria, prompting increased US scrutiny and warnings about the protection of vulnerable faith communities.
President Trump, on Friday, October 31, 2025, put Nigeria on a list of “Countries of Particular Concern” for the reported killing of Christians in the country.
He previously designated Nigeria as a CPC in December 2020 during his first term in office, but that designation was reversed following his electoral defeat by President Joe Biden.
Following the re-listing, the US President, on November 3, said he would consider potential military action to protect Nigeria’s embattled Christians.
On November 20, the US House Subcommittee on Africa opened a public hearing to review Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, placing the country under heightened scrutiny for alleged religious-freedom violations. Lawmakers examined the potential consequences of the designation, which could pave the way for sanctions against Nigerian officials found complicit in religious persecution.
