By Ghazali Ibrahim
A member of the United States House of Representatives, Rep. Riley M. Moore, has called on President Donald Trump and the US government to re-designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) over alleged widespread persecution of Christians.
In a letter dated October 6, 2025, and addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Moore urged Washington to suspend all arms sales and technical support to Nigeria until the government demonstrates genuine commitment to ending what he described as “persecution and slaughter” of Christians.
The lawmaker, who represents West Virginia’s Second District, claimed that from January to September 2025 alone, more than 7,000 Christians had been “gruesomely murdered” by extremist groups.
He further alleged that since 2015, at least 250 Catholic priests have been attacked or killed, while over 19,000 churches have been destroyed between 2009 and 2025 due to insurgent activities.
Moore’s appeal follows growing pressure from some American conservatives and religious freedom advocates for tougher US engagement with Nigeria.
He argued that continued US military cooperation without accountability would embolden human rights violations.
Reports show that the Trump administration first designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern in 2020, citing systematic religious persecution, but the decision was reversed by President Joe Biden in 2021.
Prominent American figures, including Senator Ted Cruz, television host Bill Maher, and political analyst Van Jones, have in recent months described the violence against Christians in Nigeria as a form of “genocide.”
During a recent podcast with Maher, Senator Cruz alleged that Christians were being “systematically targeted and killed,” urging the US to take stronger action.
However, the Nigerian government has dismissed such allegations as baseless and politically motivated.
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, said reports describing the situation as a “Christian genocide” were false, misleading, and capable of inciting division.
According to Dare, the claims are part of a “deliberate effort to misrepresent Nigeria’s complex security challenges,” stressing that violence in the country affects citizens across religious and ethnic lines.
He urged Nigerians and the international community to “reject attempts to clothe the country in a garment that is not hers.”
