US reps schedule fresh hearing on ‘Christian persecution’ in Nigeria

By Ayobami Okerinde The United States House of Representatives is set to hold a congressional hearing on Nigeria’s efforts to protect Christians and tackle insecurity in the Middle Belt, with Republican lawmaker Chris Smith leading the session on Thursday, November 12. According to a statement issued by Smith’s office on Monday, the session is titled ‘One Year Later: Assessing Nigeria’s Efforts to Protect Christians and Secure the Middle Belt’, with hearing scheduled for 11am at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC.

It partly reads, “Congressional hearing that assesses the current state of religious violence perpetrated by radical Islamists, such as Boko Haram and Fulani terrorists, against Christians in Nigeria; the Nigerian government’s efforts to curb the persecution and punish those responsible for committing atrocities against Christian and non-radical Muslim communities; and the steps the United States can take to ensure that Nigerian officials are addressing and preventing the systemic violence against Christians and non-radical Muslims by Islamist extremists.” The first panel will feature Frank Garcia, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, and Riley Barnes, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour.

The second panel will include Nina Shea, senior fellow and director of the Centre for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute; Ryan Brown, chief executive officer of Open Doors US; and Oge Onubogu, director and senior fellow of the Africa Programme at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. The hearing will be streamed live on YouTube.

This will be Smith’s 14th congressional hearing exclusively on Nigeria. In November 2025, he chaired a hearing after President Donald Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a ‘country of particular concern’. In May 2016, he also chaired a hearing on “The U.S. role in helping Nigeria confront Boko Haram and other threats in northern Nigeria.”