Trump posted the Friday announcement on Truth Social, following a recent letter from Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV) urging the administration to take “immediate action to address the systematic persecution and slaughter of Christians in Nigeria.”
Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a “COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN” — But that is the least of it. When Christians, or any such group, is slaughtered like is happening in Nigeria (3,100 versus 4,476 Worldwide), something must be done! I am asking Congressman Riley Moore, together with Chairman Tom Cole and the House Appropriations Committee, to immediately look into this matter, and report back to me. The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other Countries. We stand ready, willing, and able to save our Great Christian population around the World!
DONALD J. TRUMP,
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Moore, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, detailed in his October 6 letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio that over 7,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria in 2025 alone, with hundreds more kidnapped, tortured, or displaced by Muslim terrorist groups like Boko Haram.
The congressman had also cited reports stating that 19,100 churches had been destroyed in the country since 2009.
“The United States cannot stand idly by while believers are slaughtered,” Moore said in a statement at the time. “We must acknowledge the religious nature of this scourge of anti-Christian violence from radical Islamic terrorists. It’s time for the United States to defend our brothers and sisters in Christ, and designating Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern will provide the diplomatic levers to do just that. I urge Secretary Rubio to designate Nigeria as a CPC without delay.”
In a recent interview with X show host Mario Nawfal, Moore accused the Nigerian government of being “complicit” in the attacks against Christians, which mostly take place in the northern region of the country.
“The government in Nigeria is complicit in the suffering of our brothers and sisters in Christ,” he said. “If I should give some numbers really quick here: there have been 50,000 to 100,000 murdered Christians in Nigeria. This is an astounding number nobody is talking about.”
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is Muslim, has categorically denied the existence of a Christian genocide in his country, saying last month, “There’s no religious persecution in Nigeria. It’s a lie from the pit of hell.”
When Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) also sounded the alarm on the issue earlier this month, Tinubu spokesperson Bayo Onanuga accused him of lying and claimed that “We have religious harmony in our country.”
“Senator, stop these malicious, contrived lies against my country,” Onanuga wrote on X after Cruz introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act.
“We do not have a religious war in my country,” he continued. “The degraded Boko Haram terrorists operating on the fringes of Nigeria’s North east target everyone. They attack farmers, our soldiers. The bandits in the North west kill worshippers in their mosques. Christians are not targeted. We have religious harmony in our country. Stop these malicious lies.”
Moore further accused Tinubu’s administration of “shameful silence” in his interview with Nawfal, arguing that “It’s turning a blind eye to it.”
“This has been going on for quite a while in Nigeria, and it’s the persecution and ethnic cleansing of Christians in the country of Nigeria by Islamic extremists. And there are three different types of groups to blame here,” the congressman explained. “One is Boko Haram; we are kind of familiar with it.”
It has been over 11 years since Boko Haram abducted nearly 300 schoolgirls from the Christian community of Chibok in northern Borno State, “taking them as slaves with little meaningful government action in response,” Breitbart News’s Frances Martel reported.
Over 90 of the girls remained missing as of April of this year, many indoctrinated into jihadist ideology and forced to raise the children resulting from their systematic rape by the terrorist group.
Moore went on to name some of the other actors involved in the Christian persecutions: “We have IS Africa, more ISIS-aligned, and you have these tribal people, most of them involved in cattle herdsmen, the Fulani… All three are to blame for this. And to me, the government of Nigeria is to blame for this as well.”
In designating Nigeria as a country of particular concern, Trump has “opened the door for sanctions to be imposed,” the Washington Post reported. “The designation does not necessarily mean that sanctions, which could include a ban on all non-humanitarian aid, will be imposed, but it is one step ahead of that,” the outlet stated.
“Thank you @POTUS for your incredible leadership by designating Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern,” Moore wrote on X. “You have always been a champion for Christians around the world, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with you and Chairman Cole @houseappropsgop to defend our brothers and sisters in Christ who are being slaughtered by radical Islamists in Nigeria.”
Cruz also thanked Trump for the action, calling it “a critical step in holding accountable and changing the behavior of Nigerian officials.”
“My legislation implements additional steps, including targeting those who implement blasphemy and sharia laws in Nigeria, and I am committed to working with the administration and my colleagues to advance my bill and implement these necessary measures,” the senator continued. “Today’s decision by President Trump is a great one, and I thank him for his strong leadership.”
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
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