By Mary Onyia
In 2025, over 7,000 Christians were killed in Nigeria, with an average of 35 deaths each day as extremist attacks increased. This prompted U.S. lawmaker Riley M. Moore to call on the American government to take strong diplomatic action to stop what he described as systematic persecution and killing of Christians.
In a letter dated October 6, 2025, and addressed to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the congressman representing West Virginia’s Second District urged that Nigeria be redesignated as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) over what he termed “religiously motivated violence and state complicity.”
Citing figures from Open Doors and other humanitarian agencies, Moore said that more than 19,100 churches have been attacked or destroyed in Nigeria since 2009, while at least 850 Christians remain in jihadist captivity.
He linked the violence to terrorist groups such as Boko Haram, ISIS-West Africa, and Ansaru, warning that “Nigeria has become the deadliest place in the world to be a Christian.”
“As a Christian nation founded upon biblical principles, the United States bears a unique obligation to stand for the freedom and protection of Christians worldwide,” Moore wrote. “We cannot stand idly by while thousands are slaughtered for their faith.”
The lawmaker also accused “corrupt cells” within the Nigerian government of being complicit in the violence, citing reports of enforced anti-blasphemy laws and the closure of Christian orphanages in parts of the North. “In northern states such as Kano, regional governments have shut down Christian orphanages and forced the children to be reeducated as Muslims,” he alleged, adding that individuals continue to face lengthy prison sentences “for merely insulting the Prophet Mohammed.”
Moore dismissed Nigerian authorities’ claims that terrorism affects all faiths equally, describing the killings as “a form of genocide” driven by extremist ideology. “This violence stems almost exclusively from Muslim groups and is explicitly anti-Christian,” he said. “The attempt to diminish these facts does not speak well of the Nigerian government, nor does the prevalence of corruption that enables these crimes.”
He called on the State Department to use every diplomatic option, such as stopping arms sales and technical support to Nigeria, until the government shows real progress in ending the violence. Moore also asked President Donald Trump and Secretary Rubio to bring back the CPC designation, which was first put in place during Trump’s earlier term but removed by President Biden in 2021.
“I urge you to redesignate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern without delay and withhold arms sales until the Nigerian government has taken tangible steps to protect our brothers and sisters in Christ,” Moore concluded.