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One year after President Donald Trump redesignated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, Washington says attacks on Christian communities have continued without sufficient government action to stop them.
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US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Frank Garcia, says Nigeria has failed to make meaningful progress, insisting that the CPC designation should remain in place.
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US lawmakers question the failure to dismantle militia strongholds, delays in deploying 1,000 security guards approved for Plateau and the exclusion of Benue and Plateau from the forest guard initiative.
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Federal Government rejects allegations of Christian genocide, maintaining that terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and resource-related conflicts are responsible for the country’s security crisis.
November 13, (THEWILL) – The United States has declared that Nigeria has failed to stop attacks on Christian communities, one year after President Donald Trump placed the country under its Country of Particular Concern (CPC) designation, with Washington insisting that the continued killings and inadequate security response do not justify lifting the classification.
The position was stated by the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Frank Garcia, during a congressional hearing on violence in Nigeria on Thursday, where he acknowledged that the Nigerian government had not made sufficient progress in addressing attacks on vulnerable communities despite diplomatic engagements and security cooperation between both countries.
Nigeria was redesignated a CPC on October 31, 2025, following concerns raised by the Trump administration over alleged persecution of Christians and the government’s response to religiously motivated violence.
At Thursday’s hearing, US Congressman Riley Moore challenged Nigeria’s handling of the security crisis, demanding explanations for the continued activities of armed groups and kidnapping networks in the Middle Belt, particularly in Benue and Plateau states.
Moore asked what operations the Nigerian government had carried out to dismantle militia strongholds and kidnapping camps since US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Allison Hooker, expressed concerns in August about the slow pace of Nigeria’s response.
He also questioned why Benue and Plateau were excluded from the 10 states selected for Nigeria’s new forest guard initiative, despite the persistent attacks in the two states.
The congressman further raised concerns over the failure to deploy 1,000 security guards approved by President Bola Tinubu for Plateau State.
Arguing that Nigeria had not done enough to protect Christian communities, Moore insisted that the US should not reconsider the country’s CPC designation.
“Before you answer that, we cannot take this CPC designation off of this country. They have not done enough,” he said.
Garcia agreed that Nigeria had not achieved the expected progress, although he maintained that the government was taking steps to address Washington’s concerns.
“I think we would agree, as Under Secretary Hooker stated, after our CPC meeting that progress has not been there, but that doesn’t mean that Nigeria is dismissing concerns, and it doesn’t mean that they’re not taking actions, but it does mean that it hasn’t had an impact to this point,” he said.
US Faults Slow Deployment Of Security Forces
Garcia described Nigeria’s response as a process of building security capacity but expressed concern that the resources being developed had yet to provide effective protection for vulnerable communities.
He said the pace of deployment was inadequate and that the measures being introduced were not producing results quickly enough.
“I would have to characterise the Nigerians’ placement at this point as in building capacity. And that capacity is not deployed, is not being effective yet, and is not moving fast enough, as far as I’m concerned. But we do see a seriousness, and a deployment underway with the Nigerian government,” he said.
The US official also acknowledged that American-supported counterterrorism operations in the Lake Chad Basin had not necessarily addressed the activities of Fulani militants operating across the Middle Belt.
He identified the US-Nigeria Joint Working Group as a key mechanism for monitoring the Nigerian government’s commitments, measuring progress and ensuring accountability for agreed actions.
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Washington Cites Fresh Attacks Despite Joint Efforts
In his prepared testimony, Garcia said the Trump administration had prioritised the protection of Christians in Nigeria since the country’s redesignation as a CPC in October 2025.
He cited a July 27 attack on a Christian community in Kaduna State and killings in Plateau State in August and September as evidence that the violence had continued despite diplomatic interventions.
“Unfortunately, the violence has not stopped,” Garcia said, describing the attacks as an ongoing atrocity.
He disclosed that the US-Nigeria Joint Working Group held its first meeting in Abuja in January 2026 and another in Washington in August.
According to him, the engagements focused on strengthening security deployments in vulnerable Middle Belt communities, improving responses to early warnings, ensuring accountability for perpetrators and expanding military cooperation.
Garcia said the US had provided training and equipment to police units responsible for protecting vulnerable communities through its Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.
He added that Washington had expanded biometric information-sharing with Nigeria to strengthen investigations and facilitate the identification and prosecution of suspects.
The US had also worked with Nigerian financial institutions on an action plan to disrupt terrorist financing networks linked to attacks on churches.
Garcia further said Hooker raised concerns about civilian casualties, the safe and voluntary return of internally displaced persons to their communities and the need for greater transparency in humanitarian aid expenditure and delivery during the second meeting of the Joint Working Group.
FG Rejects Christian Genocide Claims
Garcia acknowledged that Nigeria’s security architecture remained overstretched and that limited access to judicial services in parts of the Middle Belt continued to hamper efforts to bring perpetrators to justice.
He said Washington would continue to use diplomatic engagements, the CPC designation and targeted security cooperation to push Nigeria towards stronger protection of Christian communities and accountability for those responsible for attacks.
The CPC classification applies to countries identified by the US government as having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom. It exposes designated countries to increased diplomatic scrutiny and possible policy measures.
The Federal Government has consistently rejected allegations of a Christian genocide or a systematic campaign of religious persecution, maintaining that Nigeria’s security challenges are rooted in terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and resource-related conflicts.
It has also argued that the violence affects Nigerians across religious and ethnic divides and should not be presented as a conflict directed exclusively against Christians.
Despite these differences in the characterisation of the crisis, Garcia’s testimony reaffirmed Washington’s position that Nigeria has yet to demonstrate sufficient progress in stopping attacks on Christian communities, one year after Trump’s intervention.
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