By SUNTV Global Channel | February 4, 2026
The United States Congress is set to hold a high-stakes hearing on Nigeria’s worsening insecurity and allegations of repeated attacks on religious communities, as lawmakers increasingly frame the country as a major flashpoint in a growing global crisis of religious freedom.
Ahead of Wednesday’s joint session of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, written testimonies released by the committee have raised alarms over persistent killings, displacement and insecurity in Nigeria, warning that the situation could evolve into a broader religious conflict if left unaddressed.
The hearing, titled “Defending Religious Freedom Around the World,” is being jointly convened by the House Subcommittee on Africa and the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere to assess mounting threats to religious freedom globally, with Nigeria featuring prominently in deliberations.
Scheduled witnesses include former US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback, Principal Advisor for Global Religious Freedom at the US State Department Mark Walker, Grace Drexel, daughter of detained Chinese pastor Ezra Jin, and Dr Stephen Schneck, former chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
In his prepared testimony, Brownback described Nigeria as “the deadliest place on the planet to be a Christian,” arguing that radical militant groups are intensifying efforts to dominate regions by eliminating religious diversity.
“Religious freedom is now one of the central fault lines in global politics,” Brownback said, warning that authoritarian and extremist forces increasingly view faith communities as obstacles to state or ideological control. He further cautioned that violence patterns across Nigeria point to a deepening crisis with consequences beyond the country’s borders.
Brownback also raised concerns about foreign involvement in Nigeria’s security landscape, warning that support from countries such as China, Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia could worsen instability if not carefully scrutinised. He warned that failure to act decisively could allow the violence to spiral into mass atrocities similar to those witnessed in Iraq.
In a separate submission, Schneck described freedom of religion or belief as being in a “historic global crisis,” driven by rising authoritarianism, religious nationalism and state failure. He identified Nigeria, alongside Syria and Sudan, as countries where weak governance and widespread insecurity have created dangerous conditions for religious communities.
“Nigeria, Syria and Sudan are current examples of environments where governments have been unable to halt widespread violence against communities of faith,” Schneck said, noting that armed groups and criminal networks often exploit religious identity to fuel killings, displacement and long-term instability.
Schneck also criticised Washington’s handling of religious freedom enforcement, arguing that the US government has failed to match strong rhetoric with sustained action under the International Religious Freedom Act.
“We have been long on rhetoric and short on substance, consistency and effectiveness,” he said, expressing concern over delays in releasing State Department religious freedom reports and the lack of updated designations of Countries of Particular Concern (CPCs).
He noted that Nigeria is currently the only country designated as a CPC, calling the absence of additional listings “deeply concerning” amid worsening repression in countries such as China and Iran. Schneck also cautioned against focusing advocacy solely on Christian persecution, stressing that international religious freedom protections are universal.
“Selective advocacy undermines both effectiveness and legitimacy,” he warned.
Nigeria was redesignated a Country of Particular Concern last year by US President Donald Trump, a move accompanied by threats of possible military action. The US later carried out strikes on terrorist hideouts in Sokoto on Christmas Day.
However, Nigeria’s Federal Government has consistently rejected claims of systemic religious persecution, maintaining that insecurity affects Nigerians of all faiths. In November 2025, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth hosted National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu at the Pentagon for talks on coordinated counter-terrorism strategies.
Ribadu later confirmed hosting a US congressional delegation in Abuja, with discussions centred on counter-terrorism cooperation, regional stability and strengthening the Nigeria-US security partnership. A plenary session of the Nigeria–US Joint Working Group was also recently held to address Nigeria’s CPC designation.
As US lawmakers prepare to debate Nigeria’s security challenges, the outcome of the hearing could shape future diplomatic, economic and military engagement between Washington and Abuja.
