Overview
- State Department officials Jonathan Pratt and Jacob McGee told a House panel the administration is developing a plan that could include State and Treasury sanctions and possible Pentagon counterterrorism engagement.
- Nigeria’s national security adviser Nuhu Ribadu led a high-level team that met Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon and is scheduled to meet Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau.
- At a House hearing, Bishop Wilfred Anagbe detailed attacks on churches and urged sanctions and humanitarian aid as lawmakers pressed for action while some warned against unilateral U.S. military force.
- Nigeria rejects claims it tolerates persecution, describing a complex security crisis affecting multiple faiths, while the African Union and China criticized U.S. threats and cautioned against violations of sovereignty.
- U.S. defense assessments highlight major legal and logistical hurdles to any large-scale intervention, pointing to sanctions, conditional assistance, intelligence sharing, and diplomatic pressure as likelier near-term tools.