The United States House of Representatives has scheduled a congressional hearing for November 12, 2026, to examine alleged persecution of Christians and insecurity in Nigeria’s Middle Belt.
Politics Nigeria reports that the hearing will be chaired by Chris Smith, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, and will focus on the Nigerian government’s efforts to protect vulnerable communities, tackle religious violence and bring perpetrators to justice.
In a statement issued on Monday, Smith’s office said the hearing, titled ‘One Year Later: Assessing Nigeria’s Efforts to Protect Christians and Secure the Middle Belt’, would assess measures taken by the Nigerian government to address religious persecution and attacks by extremist groups, including Boko Haram.
Lawmakers will also examine possible steps the United States could take to ensure that Nigerian authorities prevent violence against Christians and non-radical Muslim communities.
Smith, a Republican representative from New Jersey, is expected to chair his 14th congressional hearing on the alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
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.
Similarly, the second panel will comprise 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.
It was reported that the hearing will begin at 11am at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC, and will also be streamed live on YouTube. Other members of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa are expected to participate.
Smith has been among several US lawmakers who have raised allegations of Christian genocide in Nigeria.
In November 2025, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa scheduled an investigation into President Donald Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern over alleged religious freedom violations and killings of Christians.
Trump had initially designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern in 2020. However, his successor, former President Joe Biden, removed the country from the list after taking office.
On October 31, 2025, Trump redesignated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, citing alleged severe violations of religious freedom, particularly attacks against Christians.
He claimed that Christianity was facing an existential threat in Nigeria, alleging that thousands of Christians had been killed by radical Islamist groups.
Trump also threatened to halt US aid and assistance to Nigeria and warned of possible military intervention if the administration of President Bola Tinubu failed to address the killings.
“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the USA will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now-disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.
“I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our cherished Christians,” Trump said on November 1, 2025.
Meanwhile, Nigeria and the United States have since entered into a military partnership targeting terrorist groups operating in the country’s vast northern region