Rep. Chris Smith has introduced a bill urging the U.S. State Department to act against religious persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) has introduced legislation urging the U.S. State Department to advance religious freedom and protect persecuted Christians in Nigeria. Smith said the situation “has gotten significantly worse within the past year.”
The bill, H.R. 860, updates and expands earlier legislation to provide congressional guidance for actions such as sanctions and visa restrictions targeting groups like the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria. “The legislation supports President Trump’s initiative in combating Christian persecution overseas,” Smith said.
President Donald Trump this week called Nigeria a “disgraced country,” warning that his administration would “go into that now-disgraced country guns-a-blazing” to stop the killing of Christians. The State Department also announced that 80,000 visas for Nigerians and other nationals have been revoked since January.
According to the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, more than 7,000 Christians were killed in Nigeria in the first 220 days of 2025, and over 19,000 churches have been attacked since 2009. Smith said he is “optimistic” Congress will act, adding that “Christians in Nigeria are living under the unabating threat of murder, rape, and torture by radical Islamist terrorist groups.”