119 HRES 866 IH: Condemning the persecution of Christians in Nigeria and standing ready to support President Donald J. Trump in taking decisive action to end the existential threat that persecuted Christians face in Nigeria.
U.S. House of Representatives
2025-11-07
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IV
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 866
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 7, 2025
Mr. Moore of West Virginia (for himself, Mr. Hunt, Mrs. Miller of Illinois, Mr. Clyde, Mr. Norman, Mr. Biggs of Arizona, Mr. Van Drew, Mr. Messmer, Mr. Alford, Mr. Stutzman, Mr. Moore of Alabama, Mr. Gill of Texas, Mr. Carter of Georgia, Mr. Aderholt, Mr. Palmer, Mr. Steube, Mr. McDowell, Mr. James, Mr. Bilirakis, Mrs. Luna, and Mr. Pfluger) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
RESOLUTION
Condemning the persecution of Christians in Nigeria and standing ready to support President Donald J. Trump in taking decisive action to end the existential threat that persecuted Christians face in Nigeria.
Whereas Nigeria is experiencing the highest levels of violence against Christians in the world since Boko Haram’s insurgency began in 2009;
Whereas Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and Fulani militants have systematically targeted Christian communities through massacres, church burnings, kidnappings, and sexual violence, leaving villages destroyed and millions displaced;
Whereas estimates indicate that between 50,000 and 100,000 Christians have been martyred for their faith since 2009, with more than 7,000 Christians killed in 2025, an average of 35 Christians murdered every day, and over 19,000 churches attacked or destroyed;
Whereas, in Benue and Plateau states alone, more than 9,500 people, mostly Christians, were killed between May 2023 and May 2025 by Fulani militants, while more than half a million were displaced from their homes;
Whereas these attacks are not random or merely intercommunal, but deliberate campaigns of religious cleansing, as demonstrated by coordinated assaults during Christian holy days, such as the 2022 Pentecost Massacre, Christmas Eve 2023 massacre, and the Holy Week 2025 killings that claimed hundreds of Christian lives;
Whereas, despite assertions that such violence arises from general instability rather than specific targeting of Christians, when adjusted for population sizes in various states, Christians in Nigeria are being killed at a rate at least 5 times higher than that of Muslims;
Whereas countless pastors and priests have been kidnapped, tortured, or murdered, with over 250 clergy attacked or killed in the past decade, including the recent tragedy of Father Sylvester Okechukwu, who was kidnapped and murdered on Ash Wednesday in 2025;
Whereas the Nigerian Government has repeatedly failed to respond to early warnings of impending attacks, such as the October 14, 2025, massacre in Rachas village, Plateau state, where a pastor’s warning of a Fulani offensive was dismissed by the Nigerian Army who publicly condemned the pastor for disseminating “fake news” and accused him of stoking division, and at least a dozen Christians were killed the next day;
Whereas Nigeria’s Federal and state authorities routinely deny the existence of religious persecution, with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu stating in September 2025 that “there’s no religious persecution in Nigeria”, despite overwhelming documentation to the contrary;
Whereas, even after President Donald Trump announced his decision to designate Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) on October 31, 2025, President Tinubu stated “the characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality”, despite the reality that more Christians are being killed in Nigeria than the rest of the world combined;
Whereas Nigeria is 1 of only 7 countries in the world that retains a blasphemy law carrying the death penalty, enforced in 12 northern states under Sharia criminal law, and enforces other blasphemy laws as well, which have been used to imprison and threaten Christians, minority Muslims, and other dissenters;
Whereas Christian believers such as Rhoda Jatau and Deborah Yakubu have faced mob violence, imprisonment, and even murder for alleged blasphemy, while perpetrators of such crimes against blasphemy-accused individuals often go unpunished;
Whereas these blasphemy laws and mob killings have been condemned by the United Nations, the European Parliament, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice as grave violations of international human rights law and religious freedom norms;
Whereas, in 2020 and again in 2025, President Donald J. Trump designated Nigeria as a CPC under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, unlocking tools for sanctions and other diplomatic measures against the Government of Nigeria in response to severe violations of religious freedom;
Whereas the Biden administration’s 2021 decision to remove Nigeria from the CPC list has coincided with a marked escalation in violence and persecution against Christians;
Whereas the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended Nigeria’s redesignation as a Country of Particular Concern every year since 2009, citing ongoing, egregious, and systematic violations of religious freedom; and
Whereas continued silence from the global community only emboldens the radical Islamic terrorists, and the moral voice of the United States must be raised on behalf of persecuted Christians in Nigeria: Now, therefore, be it
That the House of Representatives—
(1)
condemns the ongoing persecution and targeted killing of Christians in Nigeria by Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province, and Fulani militant groups, and the Nigerian Government’s failure to act in defense of Christians;
(2)
stands ready to support President Donald J. Trump in taking decisive action to end the existential threat that persecuted Christians face in Nigeria;
(3)
calls upon the United States Government to use all available diplomatic, economic, and security tools to pressure the Nigerian Government to—
(A)
end impunity for perpetrators of religiously motivated violence;
(B)
protect Christian communities and clergy from further attacks;
(C)
work to return internally-displaced persons to their homelands, particularly amongst Christian communities; and
(D)
repeal blasphemy laws and release all prisoners detained for their faith;
(4)
encourages coordination with international partners to deliver humanitarian aid directly to victims through trusted nongovernmental and faith-based organizations; and
(5)
affirms the commitment of the United States to stand in solidarity with Christians and to defend their right to practice their faith without fear of persecution, violence, and even death.