Two House Republicans introduced new legislation that will require the State Department to create a report detailing American efforts to help persecuted Christians in Nigeria.
Rep. Riley Moore of West Virginia and Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey proposed the “Nigeria Religious Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026,” which seeks to assess Nigeria’s cooperation with U.S. efforts to safeguard its Christian community.
“This legislation makes clear that the United States stands with our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ and seeks to help Nigeria address its many challenges,” Moore said in a Feb. 10release.
The report, which would be compiled by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, would include an assessment of Nigeria’s compliance with the International Religious Freedom Act.
Such compliance involves “specific actions taken, or not taken, by the Government of Nigeria to prevent persecution, prosecute perpetrators, repeal blasphemy laws, protect vulnerable communities, and facilitate the safe return of internally displaced persons.”
The report would also include names of all individuals and entities sanctioned in relation to the ongoing persecution.
The bill meanwhile calls for “an investigation into whether the Nigerian government is taking appropriate steps to cease enforcement of blasphemy laws, and to look into instances of non-Muslims, Muslims, and dissenters being subjected to Sharia law or blasphemy laws.”
Smith said in the release that the Nigerian government has denied the “religious persecution occurring within its borders,” which has “only enabled the religious-based violence in the country to fester, with Christian deaths and church attacks reaching unprecedented numbers.”
The lawmaker noted that President Donald Trump has once more designated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern,” meaning that the United States must “do its due diligence in ensuring that the Nigerian government is taking the proper steps to address and punish the systemic violence against Christians and non-radical Muslims by Islamist extremists.”
Islamic military groups like Boko Haram have spent years terrorizing and displacing Christian communities in the northern and central regions of Nigeria.
Source: VidNews » Feed
