Overview

• Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar said recent violence reflects competition over land, water, and livelihoods, denied any state-sanctioned attacks, and noted Nigeria has no state religion.
• Sen. Ted Cruz introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025 to mandate a Country of Particular Concern designation and sanction officials accused of facilitating jihadist violence.
• Reps. Riley Moore and Chris Smith pressed for CPC redesignation, while conservative media and Bill Maher amplified claims of a Christian “genocide,” a characterization disputed in reporting and by Nigerian officials.
• Intersociety, a Nigeria-based advocacy group, cites large death tolls and thousands of churches attacked since 2009, figures that are contested and central to the Washington debate.
• Nigeria faces potential fallout including visa limits, tariffs, and targeted sanctions as tensions rise, and the dispute revives a policy history that saw a 2020 CPC label later reversed by the Biden administration.