The United States House of Representatives will hold a hearing on 12 November 2026 to scrutinise the Nigerian government’s response to the killing of Christians in the Middle Belt. The session, to be streamed live on YouTube, will take place in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC, and will be chaired by Rep. Chris Smith, who heads the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa.
Smith’s office announced that the hearing, titled “One Year Later: Assessing Nigeria's Efforts to Protect Christians and Secure the Middle Belt,” will review what the Abuja administration has achieved over the past twelve months in protecting Christian communities, stabilising the region and bringing perpetrators of faith‑based attacks to justice. The focus will include the activities of Boko Haram and Fulani‑linked militants.
Two panels of speakers are slated to address the committee. The first will feature Assistant Secretaries of State Frank Garcia and Riley Barnes, who will discuss U.S. policy on African affairs and democracy, human rights and labour. The second panel will include Nina Shea of the Hudson Institute, Ryan Brown, CEO of Open Doors US, and Oge Onubogu of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
The hearing follows a series of U.S. diplomatic actions. President Donald Trump placed Nigeria on the “Countries of Particular Concern” (CPC) list in 2020, citing threats to Christianity, and removed it during the Biden administration. On 31 October 2025, Trump reinstated the designation and warned that “If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the USA will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now‑disgraced country, guns‑a‑blazing, to completely wipe out the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”
Congressman Riley Moore has also called for tougher measures, noting that “Christians in Nigeria are still going through unspeakable violence” a year after the CPC redesignation.
Lawmakers will debate possible U.S. actions to compel the Nigerian authorities to halt attacks on Christian and moderate Muslim communities, and to secure the Middle Belt. The hearing is expected to draw attention from Nigerians and the international community alike.
<small>Source: Daily Post Nigeria — read the original story there.</small>
