The United States House Appropriations Committee has reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to confronting religious persecution worldwide—with Nigeria again placed under the spotlight—in a statement posted on its official X account on Wednesday.
“America will not look away as innocent lives are stolen,” the committee said. It added that, on the direction of President Donald Trump, a team of appropriators had travelled to Nigeria to inform a forthcoming report on Christian persecution and shape policy recommendations. “Religious freedom and atrocity response are central to our NSRP bill,” the statement read.
The declaration followed the recent visit of a US congressional delegation led by Congressman Riley Moore, a trip confirmed by Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu. The mission, according to both sides, was aimed at strengthening counter-terrorism cooperation, bolstering regional stability and reinforcing the security partnership between Abuja and Washington.
During his stay, Moore toured internally displaced persons’ camps in Benue State and met with Tiv and Catholic leaders. On X, he described the scenes he encountered as “harrowing,” recounting testimonies from survivors of attacks in the region.
“I met dozens of Christians who were driven from their homes and subjected to horrific violence,” he wrote. He relayed accounts of killings, mutilations and brutal assaults, including the story of a woman forced to watch the murder of her husband and five children and another whose unborn baby was cut from her womb. A man, he added, described seeing his family hacked to death and his own arm left permanently mangled.
Moore estimated that more than 600,000 Christians are currently living in IDP camps in Benue, where violence between farming communities and armed groups has persisted for years. “These Christians should be able to live in their ancestral homeland without fear,” he said, urging greater international engagement.
He also held meetings with senior religious and traditional figures, including Bishops Wilfred Anagbe and Isaac Dugu and Tiv leader James Ioruza. He said discussions centred on what he described as “the ongoing genocidal campaign” in the state.
Moore’s engagements with Nigerian officials, including Ribadu, focused on counter-terrorism efforts in the north-east and the continuing killings across the Middle Belt — issues he said remain priorities for both President Trump and US lawmakers. He praised Nigeria’s recent rescue of more than 100 abducted Catholic schoolchildren and welcomed what he called an “established joint task force between Nigeria and the US,” but stressed that “openness has to translate to concrete action.”
The visit comes at a tense moment in diplomatic relations, following the Trump administration’s redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern over alleged violations of religious freedom — a step accompanied by warnings of possible US military intervention. Abuja has repeatedly rejected the accusation, insisting that insecurity affects Nigerians of all religious backgrounds.
The intensifying scrutiny follows earlier engagements, including Ribadu’s 20 November meetings at the Pentagon with US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and a public hearing by the US House Subcommittee on Africa on the implications of the redesignation. Last week, House Republicans again raised concerns about religious violence in Nigeria during a joint briefing ordered by Trump.
