▶ 0:03:09The subcommittee on Africa will come to order and good morning to all of you. Uh I do ask unanimous consent that the representative James from Michigan, Representative Stzman from Indiana, and Representative Moore from West Virginia be allowed to sit on the dis and participate in today's hearing. Without objection, so ordered. I yield myself um such time as I may consume and I welcome a ranking member.
▶ 0:03:34Thank you. Good to see you too.
▶ 0:03:35Good to see you too. Uh I want to welcome all all of you to this very critical hearing on the systematic and accelerating violence against predominantly Christian communities in Nigeria. For the record, this is my 12th hearing focused exclusively on Nigeria with scores of other hearings on human trafficking, religious freedom, food and security, human rights focused in part on Africa. I've led three trips, human rights trips to to Nigeria.
▶ 0:04:02I want to thank our distinguished witnesses for being here today to bring light and scrutiny to this unfolding religious freedom catastrophe and to offer ways to mitigate and to end the violence and the hate. Nigeria is ground zero, the focal point of the most brutal and murderous anti-Christian persecution in the world today. Moderate Muslims who speak out against the radical Islamists or refuse to conform with the serial killers are murdered as well.
▶ 0:04:31I applaud President Trump's recent decisive action to redesate Nigeria as a country of particular concern for engaging in and tolerating severe violations of religious freedom. One of our witnesses today, um, Bishop Wilfred Anagbe from the Dascese of McCertie testified before our subcommittee last March. He said in part, "Militin fani herdsmen and ter are terrorists. They steal and vandalize.
▶ 0:05:01They kill and boast about it. They kidnap and rape and they enjoy total impunity from elected officials. None of them have been arrested and brought to justice." Close quote. Today by Zoom, Bishop Anab will say in part, "On the 13th of March, 2025, when I last appeared before this committee, I warned that the situation was dire and demanded urgent attention.
▶ 0:05:26Tragically, the past half year has proven those warnings uh the continued attacks on vulnerable Christians villages by the fani ethnic militia and their counterparts both in the middle belt of Nigeria and elsewhere in the country.
▶ 0:05:42In my own dascese of Mercury, you are all familiar with the massacres of Saturday the 13th of June in Yalada where 278 persons, men, women and children were killed in a manner too gory to describe here by people shouting Allah Akbar while slaughtering their victims. It took the prayer of the holy father Pope Leo on Sunday the 14th of June for the government of Nigeria to even acknowledge this evil.
▶ 0:06:09Even so, the federal government still seeks to downplay the numbers and has yet to properly care for the survivors even as I speak as he will be speaking momentarily by way of Zoom. Abductions of the clergy and leoty remain rampant. Priests and pastors are prime targets for elimination.
▶ 0:06:28In 2015, one of our colleagues, member of this subcommittee and also this full committee I should say and of foreign affairs and a former house colleague and green beret officer and now US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Walsh. He was deployed in 2015 to Nigeria as part of a Nigerian uh spe he was part of the special forces to provide training and security assistance to the Nigerian Navy Seals in their fight against Boo Haram.
▶ 0:06:59During this time there [snorts] he said yesterday a couple days ago more than 300 girls were reported missing because of Boo Haram's extremist violence. Working alongside his team, Ambassador Waltz supported Nigerian SEAL operations that ultimately helped rescue many of these girls from the oppressive conditions imposed by Sharia law.
▶ 0:07:20This past Tuesday, Ambassador Walsh also said at a special seminar on Nigeria that the situation in Nigeria now has only grown more dire. He went on to say, [clears throat] uh, churches burn, mothers bury their children for the crime of singing Amazing Grace, pastors are beheaded for preaching the sermon on the mount, and entire villages awaken to gunfire simply by calling Jesus their Lord. This is not random violence.
▶ 0:07:50It is deliberate persecution as northern militant groups enforce Sharia law and unleash targeted attacks on Christian communities. He also pointed out, and it was this week, that 25 girls went missing. many of whom will uh who will now vanish and have vanished into the dark underbelly of extremism and sex slavery. Make no mistake, these ongoing attacks are based on religion and diverting attention from it denies what we have seen with our own eyes.
▶ 0:08:18Yeah, there may be other factors, but religion is driving this. Kill the infidel. We see it in other places and we're seeing it now sadly in Nigeria and it's been going on for many, many years. 13 years ago in this room 2012 I chaired a hearing focusing on the slaughter of Christians by Boka Haram and the assistant secretary of state for African affairs Johnny Carson testified at that hearing and said and I quote in part that the phenomena of Boka Haram
▶ 0:08:49is one of discrediting the central government in power for its failure to deliver services to the people. I asked him at the time are you kidding? I responded by asking why Bokaram abducts and rapes Christian girls and uses force and coercion, even death, to convert Christians to Islam. On a trip to an IDP camp uh in Jo, I met many survivors.
▶ 0:09:13One man who we had testify here uh named Adama who they took him out of his house. His wife was screaming, "Please don't hurt my husband." They put a a AK-47 to his cheek and said, "You renounce your faith or we'll kill you." He said, "Well, I'm ready to meet my lord." They asked him again. He repeated that and they shot him. They blew his face uh very, very horribly. He survived.
▶ 0:09:42And when I met him, I invited him to come and testify. He did. And he said, "You've got to realize who Boo Haram is and stop this this idea." This is my words but his sentiment of denial of saying ah it's nothing to see here. So I asked Johnny Carson uh further why won't they designate BORAM at least if not a CPC country as a foreign terrorist organization and um he said they they don't believe it.
▶ 0:10:11They're not a foreign terrorist organization. I worked on that for three years, additional hearings. Uh on the day I was marking up my bill and it was called the Boka Haram Terrorist Designation Act of 2013 to put Congress on record on record demanding an FDOT designation. That day the administration declared Boam a foreign tourist tourist organization.
▶ 0:10:33I was very happy with it, but we could have done that three years earlier and maybe had found out what their sources of weapons and funding and everything else might have been thereby again mitigating some of the harm. For too long, the world has looked away. A culture of denial as radical fani militants, Boaram and ISIS West Africa have waged a relentless campaign of terror, murder, and displacement across Nigeria, including the states of Plateau, Bennu, and Kanduna. according to Open Doors. And I just want to say something about Open Doors.
▶ 0:11:02I've worked with Open Doors for 40 years. I know the knew the founder, Brother Andrew, an absolutely honest and committed man. And that organization to this day continues to speak truth to power all over the world, including in Nigeria. Well, they have said open doors, more Christians are slaughtered in Nigeria than anywhere else in the world. I co-chair the China Commission.
▶ 0:11:23I just left a hearing that we're we're holding over on the Senate side uh on religious persecution there against everyone against the fallen gang, against the Christians, against the Buddhists in Shing Jang uh not the Buddhist Buddhists in in Tibet and the the um Muslims in Shing Jang. And while they kill many, they incarcerate and harass more than they slaughter. That's that's these groups in in Nigeria are doing uh just that, slaughtering.
▶ 0:11:51They another group has said over 52,000 Christians in Nigeria have reportedly been targeted and killed by Islamist extremists while approximately 34,000 moderate Muslims have been murdered as well since 2009. And you know that is less focused upon. I raise it every time and and I hope we all will. They're killing those who don't conform to the radical Islamist view. Uh and so they get killed too.
▶ 0:12:16I met with many Imans on trips to Nigeria as well as here and they say if we speak out we'll be firebombed too. During a visit there 19,000 churches have also been attacked. More than 7,000 have been murdered in this year alone. During my visit to Jo in 2013 I visited many churches have been firebombed in in Jo. Uh and I listened to the survivors.
▶ 0:12:41It was moved almost to tears and to tears with some uh when they talked about the numbing loss and pain of losing loved ones and the churches were decimated each and every one of them u either by cars coming in and plowing everybody uh and and destroying the physical or by bombs and of course always the everpresent u AK-47. They pleaded with their own government and the world to end the cruelty and violence. and I've been raising it as have many others ever since.
▶ 0:13:10About 5 million Christians have been displaced and forced into internally displaced persons camps within Nigeria and refugee camps at regional and subregional borders according to EU an inter society report open doors reports and again I hope we can finally get beyond just saying nothing to see here. While Christians used to be vulnerable only to Muslim majority northern states, this violence continues to spread into the Middle Belt and even further south. The attacks are shockingly brutal.
▶ 0:13:41Many believers are killed, particularly men, while women are often kidnapped and targeted for what? Sexual violence, rape, and other abuse. More believers are killed for their faith in Nigeria than anywhere else in the world. These militants also destroy homes, churches, and livelihoods. And many people don't go to school anymore. One estimate is 10,000 schools have been closed due to this violence. The Nigerian government has a fundamental constitutional obligation to protect its own citizens.
▶ 0:14:11Yet the brutal reality is that the perpetrators of these crimes operate with impunity. The lack of accountability sends a chilling message that the lives of Christian farmers and their families are expendable. This failure has rightfully been called out by the president of the United States, President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio. The United States must stand not stand by idally. I've I've introduced resolutions and others have been introduced as well. HRES 82.
▶ 0:14:39Um I had done that previously uh on 82 asking that the Biden administration we had an interesting conversation and debate on that resolution. It did pass 26 to 21 and part of the argument that was made by Mr. Meeks and my very distinguished colleague to my left is that it's the president and the secretary of state that needs to make that call, not us. I think we we can encourage something. That's what it did. But nevertheless, now they made the call and I think we need to, you know, double down and try to stop this.
▶ 0:15:07Hres 860, which I've introduced, also calls on conditioning US foreign assistance. Um and it must be tied to progress from the Nigerian government in preventing pro persecution prosecuting perpetrators and protecting all communities. Uh second it it would provide direct humanitarian assistance especially the faith-based groups working on the ground in the middle belt. What we're hearing is that it's not getting through. People are hungry. So we need to make sure that they're help.
▶ 0:15:37And third, we must impose targeted sanctions pursuant the to the global Magnitzky act using visa bans and access freezes against individuals and entities responsible for these gross human rights abuses. President Trump, as I conclude, said Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. The United States cannot stand by while atrocities are happening in Nigeria. I yield to my good friend and colleague, Miss Jacobson.
▶ 0:16:04Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, and thank you to all of the witnesses who are going to be testifying today on conflict and religious persecution in Nigeria. I'm very much looking forward to the conversation we'll have with Ambassador Pratt and Deputy Assistant Secretary McGee as this committee is long overdue to hold a hearing with Trump administration officials. The African continent continues to be both increasingly important and increasingly overlooked.
▶ 0:16:30The continent is the youngest in the world and in Nigeria alone 70% of the population is under 35 and 40% is under 15. So it represents the future generations who will continue to lead and solve the world's problems. Nigeria has a unique position as a bellweather as Africa's largest economy, most populous nation and a significant actor in the region and on the world stage. And meanwhile, Nigeria is facing its own challenges like rising insecurity, shrinking freedom of expression, and a struggling economy.
▶ 0:17:01So, let's talk about the very real conflict and violence happening in Nigeria is facing multiple different security challenges in various parts of the country, including violent extremist groups in the northeast, criminal banditry in the northwest and across the country, farmer herder conflict in the Middle Belt, and other intercomunal violence in central and northern Several factors are driving these conflicts.
▶ 0:17:27Yes, ethnicity and religion play a role in some cases, but other dynamics like poor governance, resource competition, climate change, and population pressures are important drivers that need to be addressed. I appreciate the chairman's passion on this and his long work on Nigeria. I think it's a distortion to say that what we're trying to say is that there's nothing to see here. In fact, there is something to see here. There is very real conflict and violence that we need to address.
▶ 0:17:53I've been working on addressing conflict in Nigeria since 2013 2014 when I was part of the counter boo haram strategy at the state The violence impacting both Christian and Muslim communities is real and the Nigerian government can and should do more to address it. I was horrified to learn of the killing of two people and the kidnapping of the pastor and a worshipper at a church in Quarry State. And this came only a few days after, as the chairman mentioned, criminal bandits kidnapped 25 girls in Kebby State.
▶ 0:18:24But it is counterproductive to adopt oversimplistic narratives about the multiple complex overlapping security challenges and violence across the The victims in the Kebby State kidnapping were all Muslim girls. So violence affects everyone and false narratives perpetuate harmful stereotypes and motivate tensions and violence based on religious identity.
▶ 0:18:48Distorting what's happening into a solely religious narrative erases the real drivers of violence and makes it harder to implement effective solutions. And it can fuel violence against the very groups the Trump administration claims it wants to protect. That's why I'm alarmed by President Trump's rhetoric about this violence and threats to go into Nigeria. guns ablazing and to wipe out terrorists.
▶ 0:19:11We are already receiving reports of increased tensions between Christian and Muslim populations following this President Trump's threat is reckless and any unilateral military action in Nigeria would be illegal. Congress has not authorized force in Nigeria to protect Christians and any action without Nigeria's consent violates international law.
▶ 0:19:35We also know that a military first response won't actually address the violence and will do very little to protect Christian communities. As I said, I worked on Nigeria policy since I was at the State Department in 2014. So, I know firsthand these security challenges are multifaceted and they require a holistic approach. A military-led approach risks more civilian casualties and impunity, which will only fuel violent extremism more.
▶ 0:20:02So, we need to use more tools from our foreign policy toolbox if we're serious about helping Nigeria protect its That means we need to leverage diplomacy and engage with Nigeria on how we can help support their response while pushing for important reforms within Nigeria's institutions. We also need to utilize foreign assistance to fund programs to help prevent violence and address conflict But the Trump administration so far has hobbled these tools.
▶ 0:20:31On the diplomatic front, while I'm glad to see Ambassador Pratt will be here representing the African Affairs Bureau, we still have yet to see even a nomination for an assistant secretary for Africa. And we don't have a senior director for Africa at the NYSE either. There are several emergent conflicts in Africa, including in Nigeria, but also in Sudan, DRC, and across the Sahel and in Ethiopia that demand high level, consistent, and substantive engagement.
▶ 0:20:55Occasional attention from the president, while most of the time welcome, won't be enough to see lasting results on all of these different crises. And on the development front, President Trump's dismantling of USA ID and cuts of hundreds of millions of dollars worth foreign assistance in Nigeria is worsening the violence. For years, the United States has supported Nigerian institutions, civil society, faith-based leaders, and researchers to address the conflict, violence, and religious freedom challenges.
▶ 0:21:24These programs proactively prevented and directly addressed the violence this administration is now concerned about. For example, a recent article in Devex highlighted a program that Secretary Rubio terminated which has left a void in communities that suffer violence. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to submit for the record a DEX article titled The Cuts That Bleed: What Happens When Peace Programs Go Dark.
▶ 0:21:47Thank you. This article focuses on a former program implemented by Search for Common Ground, a peaceuilding organization that provided critical early warning in communities in Yalwata, a region in Nigeria's middleb belt, where conflict and violence have erupted between Muslim herders and Christian This early warning program was responsible for fewer violent incidences before Secretary Rubio terminated it. In June, this same community was left in a lurch without this extra early warning support when attack happened in Mccertie.
▶ 0:22:18Nearly 200 people were killed, hundreds burned alive in their homes and market stalls torched and almost 4,000 people fled. And this is just one example where the United States has abandoned communities with no I have another article, this time from the LA Times by former USA ID foreign service officer Daniel Morris that details another program that was helping prevent violence but was discontinued. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to submit for the record an LA Times article titled Trump cuts Nigeria's Aid back in March.
▶ 0:22:48Now he wonders why it's so violent.
▶ 0:22:51Thank you. This article discusses a program called the community initiatives to promote peace that operated in Northern Nigeria. It trained community elders, including religious and tribal leaders, in conflict resolution, and the results were impressive. After giving one group training and making another one a control group for 6 months, each group was asked if their communities experienced violence. Here's what the article says.
▶ 0:23:15Only 10% of people in communities that received negotiation training and dialogue meetings said yes, compared to 41% of people in communities that hadn't. The Nigerians in the treatment group reported feeling more secure, more likely to walk around their communities, and less likely to avoid certain areas than those in the control group. We don't always see these kinds of results. So, the fact that we were and the administration eliminated this program is incredibly short-sighted and counterproductive given their apparent interest in this issue.
▶ 0:23:45So, if we want the United States to help prevent and address conflict in Nigeria, we can't pull back and eliminate our tools like President Trump has done, I urge the administration to reverse these decisions, nominate people at senior levels to work on Africa issues, and commit to working on this seriously, not just through a few true social posts. So, I look forward to hearing the testimony of Ambassador Pratt and Deputy Assistant Secretary McGee and what the State Department is planning to do to address the violence in Nigeria and how it plans to partner with Nigeria on doing so.
▶ 0:24:15And lastly, while I'm glad we have our witnesses here to discuss Nigeria today, I would be remiss to not also raise Sudan since this is our first time with the State Department witnesses in front of the subcommittee this Congress and we still have not had a budget hearing. The situation in Sudan is horrific. And while I'm glad to see this war finally getting high level attention from President Trump, I look forward to hearing from Ambassador Pratt about what the department's plan is to both make a deal that brings a lasting end to the war in Sudan and invest in a real peace process for the Sudin people.
▶ 0:24:46Thank you. I yield back.
▶ 0:24:47U we will now um receive a testimony from Bishop Anab. He is leaving for a major speech in Germany. Uh and will miss his flight if we if we wait until the thankfully our two very distinguished witnesses from state uh have agreed because normally the protocol is they go first and I do thank them for that. But I'd like to welcome uh Bishop Anag. Uh he gave very compelling testimony back in March.
▶ 0:25:18Uh and I we all appreciated that very much. But he is um in Benu state. Uh he was ador ordained a Catholic priest in August of 1994 and Pope Francis elevated him to bishop uh in 2014. Uh so Bishop Anag, the floor is
▶ 0:25:41Thank you very much Mr. Chairman, Congress member Chris meet, the most reverend Wred Chick, Bishop of the Catholic Dasis of Makudi, Benway, Nigeria, before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, African Subcommittee, November 20, 2025.
▶ 0:26:02President Trump's red designation of Nigeria as a country of particular concern CPC a serious wellfounded wakeup I am here this evening that because I have the privilege of witnessing the privilege of experiencing I'm not talking with the but as a privilege of
▶ 0:26:32opinion Mr. Chairman, ranking members, distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for inviting me back to testify on the escalating crisis of Christian persecution and genocide in 6 months ago, precisely on 13th March 2025, when I last appeared before this committee, I warned that the situation was there and demanded urgent attention.
▶ 0:27:00Tragically, the past half year has proven those warnings understated the continued attack on vulnerable Christian villages by the Polani ethnic militia and their counterparts both in the Middle Earth of Nigeria and elsewhere in the country.
▶ 0:27:18Since my testimony in March 2025, credible reports from organizations monitoring religious freedom, including open doors and our own justice, development and peace commission in Makudi dasis have documented continuing attack on crypton villages, especially in the middle bed states of Benu and Plateau perpetrated by fani militia.
▶ 0:27:41Thousands more have been displaced, some adopted or subjected with entire villages, raised and churches destroyed. My own village of in West local government was attacked and several of my relatives killed on May 22nd, 2025. An entire convent of reverend sisters of the Claria militar was displaced along with the local parish Catholic parish.
▶ 0:28:08Within the days following that attack, nearby villages like Naka also witnessed attacks. In fact, on the 24th May 2025, one of my priests, Father Solomon Atangu, was shot and left to die in the pool of his blood while those traveling with him were adopted.
▶ 0:28:27Though he survived the attack, he is unable to walk freely because he has a broken A few a few weeks before on Palm Sunday, April 13, 2025, with the attack occurring late that night into the early hours of April 14th, Polani militants launched a coordinated assault on Christian communities in Plat State, Nigeria, primarily targeting the village of Zik in the Basa local government area near
▶ 0:28:59This incident was part of a broader wave of violence in the region during Holy Week targeting Christians as they prepare to celebrate one of the most holy important feasts in our church. In my own dasis of Makudi, you are all familiar with the massacres of Saturday 13th June in yellow.
▶ 0:29:19We are 278 persons, men, women and children were killed in a manner too gory to describe here by people shouting Allah Kubar while slaughtering their victims. It took the prayers of the holy father the 14th on Sunday June June 14th for the government in Nigeria to even acknowledge this evil.
▶ 0:29:43Even so, the federal government still seeks to downplay the numbers and has yet to properly care for the survivors. Even as I speak, adoptions of cleian and ley remain in rampant. Priests and pastors are prime targets for elimination. On 17th November 2025, another priest from Kaduna das arch dasis was kidnapped while his brother was shot dead and others taken into captivity.
▶ 0:30:11On the same day, a school was kidnapped, attacked in KB state with many kidnapped and the vice principal of the school was killed. Reports are also rife of the capture of a brigadier general of the Nigerian army with some army officers and soldiers by the Islamists. This is the daily experience of many Christians in Nigeria.
▶ 0:30:34Violence is spreading southward, displacing millions and destroying farmland, creating a humanitarian crisis compounded by food Attacks by fani militants, booh haram, Islamic state of West African province is have intensified not only in the middle but and northern states but spreading southward and targeting Christian communities with impunity.
▶ 0:30:59We hoped the CPC designation by President Trump at the end of October might stabilize the situation, but instead it is deteriorating into one of the most leather periods of Niger for Nigeria Christians in recent memory. Like it is now commonly acknowledged, Nigeria remains the deadliest place on earth to be a Christian. More believers are killed there annually than in the rest of the world combined.
▶ 0:31:26Yet perpetrator face little accountability and the Nigerian government's response since the CPC declaration is to unleash vain glory speakers and willy tools to spin the narrative and make false equivalences about Muslim deaths. But I would like to ask the question here who is killing the Muslims up north. Is there any Christian militia displacing millions and occupying lands in Nigeria?
▶ 0:31:54The government the government of Nigeria's silence and refusal to engage in the face of continued killings and displacements has deepened feelings of abandonment among the people. The national leadership appears disengaged, treating the Christian genocide reports as a non-issue instead of considering it a national emergency. This lack of political will undermines trust in government institutions and fuels perceptions of complicity or Mr.
▶ 0:32:22Chairman, honorable members, allow me to briefly mention another point to close to so close to my heart. The humanitarian and social impact of this In the Middle B alone, millions of Italian displaced persons remain in camps unable to return to the ancestral lands. This threatens cultural continuity, religious and economic survival.
▶ 0:32:48The psychological trauma of survivors of these attacks is immense. With little access to counseling or rehabilitation, widows, orphans, and survivors face ongoing threats. Gays and women endure sexual violence as a weapon. So many others resort to our safe coping mechanism for daily sustenance. Destroying families guarantees that no more Christian be born from so many traumatized women. This is one of the elements of genocide.
▶ 0:33:19Securing the disappearance of a group by longerterm measures other than murder. Without quick intervention, Christianity risks elimination in parts of northern and middle bed Nigeria within a very short time. Let me put it on record here that on behalf of millions of Christians in Nigeria and in the diaspora, we thank we want to thank President Donald J. Trump for his bold leadership in in designating Nigeria as a CPC.
▶ 0:33:50I commend you Mr. Chris Smith and this subcommittee's ongoing leadership and the recent US designating of Nigeria as a country of particular concern is it is a vital step but must be backed by serious action. one using the Magnistic Act for targeted sanctions on Nigerian government officials and other and others tolerating or condoning Islamic violence in the country.
▶ 0:34:17Tie security and other development or humanitarian aid to measurable protection improvements. Expand humanitarian support for IDPs. The IDPs must return to the ancestral homes and lands with security guarantees by the Nigerian government.
▶ 0:34:34They must also be supported to rebuild their economic livelihoods and enjoy basic services such as education and Support beings like the Nigerian Religious Freedom Accountability Act to hold perpetrators accountable. This point cannot be overemphasized because it is impunity that fors the violence we suffer irrespective of who and who are being killed.
▶ 0:34:59The prime question is are there killings in Nigeria and the government should stop it. International advocacy work with allies to praise Nigeria at the UN and ensure discriminatory laws and blasphemy laws are exad eradicated or expuned from the constitution. Closing call to action. The CPC designation has brought immense joy, hope and spiritual res resilience to communities under siege in Nigeria.
▶ 0:35:29The Christian faith-based organizations remain among the few sources of relief and encouragement filling the vacuum left by government in action. However, the church alone cannot stop the killings. It requires coordinated political, military and humanitarian Mr. Chairman and members, the blood of Nigerian precious cries out to you people. We cannot afford to wait any longer.
▶ 0:35:56Renew hearings, pass binding legislations and use every tool of US influence to demand change. America remains the only country in the world with an international religious freedom act. America has a unique role in defending religious freedom globally. Please enact concrete actions according to the CPC designation. We all know that inaction embodens the extremist even more. Thank you for listening. I welcome you for this.
▶ 0:36:26Thank you very much and God bless.
▶ 0:36:27Bishop Adab. Thank you so very very much for your testimony, for your leadership at great risk to yourself and so many of your priests and diosis and folks. I um I do thank you and um I wish you well on your trip and I hope you make your plane. Thank you so very much. It now [clears throat] falls to me as a great honor to introduce uh our two uh witnesses from the administration
▶ 0:36:55uh and they're on their way in right now. Okay. While we're waiting for them to uh be seated. Um what is No, I can. Good.
▶ 0:37:29Thank you so much, gentlemen, for being here. And let me introduce um Ambassador Jonathan Pratt, who is the senior bureau official for the Bureau of African Affairs. From January 2023 to 2025, he served as the bureau's principal deputy assistant secretary. Prior to that, he was US ambassador to Djibouti.
▶ 0:37:47From 2021 to 2023, he is a recipient of the presidential rank award, a distinguished honor award, the director general's award for reporting, and the James Clement Dunn award for excellence, and he has spent a lifetime working uh very effectively on African issues. Thank you, Ambassador Pratt, for being here uh and testifying. And then we'll hear from uh Jake McGee who joined the Department of State in April of 2025 as deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
▶ 0:38:17Prior to joining the department, Mr. McGee was an attorney at the global law firm uh in Washington DC and spent several years in the Middle East as an executive recruiter and taught English in a refugee camp in northern Jordan. Without objection, your full bios will be made a part of the record. Ambassador Pratt, the floor is yours.
▶ 0:38:42Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Jacobs, and distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the administration's redesation of Nigeria as a country of particular concern under the International Religious Freedom Act.
▶ 0:38:58In June of this year in Benway State, Nigeria, fani militants armed with guns and machetes set homes and food stores ablaze and locked families inside burning buildings, killing over 200 Witnesses reported asalants shouting Allahu Akbar as they assaulted St. Joseph's Church.
▶ 0:39:21The fani militants targeted Christian farmers, many of them internally displaced persons already seeking refuge from previous violence. Benway state governor Hayasen Thali recently warned that his state is quote under siege and being attacked by terrorists and bandits, highlighting the Nigerian government's failure to The scale and brutality of violence facing Christian communities is tragic and unacceptable.
▶ 0:39:51It represents a serious failing on the part of the Similarly, Similarly, on December 23rd, a series of coordinated attacks began and continued into Christmas morning in Plateau State. The attacks resulted in hundreds of victims. Many were women, children, and elderly unable to flee. At least eight churches were destroyed.
▶ 0:40:19Plateau state communities are still reeling today from the overt religious-based violence of those attacks and their unanswered calls for help. The Nigerian government must do more to protect its Christian citizens who are being targeted and killed. Terrorists, separatists, bandits, and criminal militias in Nigeria wreak havoc throughout the country with ongoing attacks often deliberately targeting Christian communities.
▶ 0:40:48In addition to the violent Islamic extremism and banditry experienced in Nigeria's middle belt, there has been a surge in violent attacks across northern Nigeria by violent extremist organizations like ISIS West Africa, ISIS Sahel, Boo Haram, Jaim and al-Qaeda affiliate Ansaru and Lakarawa.
▶ 0:41:12The ongoing violence is a problem of prioritization for the government of Although its military and police are engaged and taking significant losses in their counterterrorism efforts in the northeast, the Nigerian government has not done enough to effectively combat violence in the middle belt, protect Christian communities, or hold perpetrators accountable.
▶ 0:41:37The intent of the administration's approach is to raise the protection of Christians to the top of the government of Nigeria's priorities, especially in the middle Nigeria is a key regional partner, Africa's largest democracy and most populous nation with whom we share economic and security interests.
▶ 0:41:59It is in the United States interest to work with the Nigerian government on a plan of action to strengthen security for atrisisk Christian communities and Nigerians of all faiths whose ability to practice their faith is put in jeopardy by endemic violence and terrorism. We welcome Nigeria's willingness to cooperate following the CPC designation. We look forward to seeing these commitments put into action.
▶ 0:42:26The Trump administration is developing a plan to incentivize and compel the Nigerian government to better protect Christian communities and improve religious freedom. This plan will consider US state and Treasury engagement on sanctions as well as possible Department of War engagement on counterterrorism and other efforts to protect religious communities.
▶ 0:42:49Secretary Rubio and Deputy Secretary Lando have engaged already with members of the Nigerian government on the importance of addressing the violence facing Christians in the Middle Ultimately, the president's decision underscores the administration's commitment to promoting religious freedom as a universal right and a fundamental freedom.
▶ 0:43:12The levels of violence and atrocities committed against Christians and communities of all faiths in Nigeria are appalling and threaten this universal this universal right. We remain open to working together with the Nigerians, but we also expect the Nigerian government to deliver results on the ground as proof of their commitment to this universal right. Thank you for your attention and I welcome your questions.
▶ 0:43:36Thank you, Mr. Ambassador. [clears throat] Mr. McGee,
▶ 0:43:39Chairman Smith,
▶ 0:43:46I'll start over. Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Jacobs, distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to join my colleague, senior bureau official Pratt, to discuss the Trump administration's decision to redesate Nigeria as a country of particular concern in accordance with the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.
▶ 0:44:06President Trump's decisive action to designate Nigeria as a CPC made clear that the United States stands ready to champion the rights of Christians and protect them from religious persecution. The religious freedom situation in Nigeria is well documented in the annual Earth reports.
▶ 0:44:23The Earthf Act, designed by Congress nearly three decades ago, establishes religious freedom as a US foreign policy priority and mandates that the president call out religious freedom violators as a reflection of the importance our nation places on America's first freedom. As my colleague stated, the levels of violence and atrocities committed against Christians in Nigeria are appalling, particularly in the middle belt. These tax uh these attacks directly target Christian populations.
▶ 0:44:54Ample witness testimonies have confirmed attackers used religious language during their attacks and specifically targeted Christians for killing, abduction, and rape. It is clear Nigerians are being attacked and killed because of their faith and the Nigerian government must uphold its duty to protect them. The United States stands with civil society and religious actors brave enough to speak about the tragic violence and discrimination they face in Nigeria.
▶ 0:45:23When Bishop Wilfrid Anag and Father Amigius Aula testified before Chairman Smith's hearing last March about religious freedom, these two courageous religious leaders reported they received threats rather than protection from the Nigerian government.
▶ 0:45:38But the United States listened and we will continue to listen and act until the Nigerian government protects religious freedom, strengthens its protections for vulnerable Christians and upholds uh holds perpetrators In addition to these failures, Nigerian officials also continue to prosecate prosecute individuals for alleged blasphemy which stands in clear violation of Nigeria's obligation to safeguard free speech.
▶ 0:46:07Under the Sharia penal codes enforced in 12 of its states, Nigeria is one of only eight countries in the world that allows for penalties up to execution for blasphemy. Along with Iran and Pakistan, which have long been designated CPCs, when authorities detain individuals accused of blasphemy, the judicial process often takes years while they remain in prison, sometimes on death row.
▶ 0:46:35Mobs often take the law into their own hands with impunity. For example, in 2022, a mob killed Deborah Samuel Yakubu, a student of Shahu Shagari College of Education Sakoto in a heinous attack after she was accused of blasphemy. This young Christian woman's life was taken too soon.
▶ 0:46:55Yet her murderers remain free with horrifying reports of discrimination, abuse, torture, disappearance, and even the murder of individuals simply trying to practice their faith freely and safely. Religious freedom is not an abstraction, but an obligation Nigeria must uphold. This administration has heard the steady clarion call from civil society and religious actors about the pernicious impact of the violence on religious communities.
▶ 0:47:24The Nigerian government must protect religious freedom, strengthen protections of vulnerable Christians, hold perpetrators accountable, and make measurable progress toward ending this violence against Christians as well as any Nigerians persecuted for their faith. We greatly appreciate the committee's dedication to shedding light on the situation in Nigeria and support in advancing freedom, religious freedom, not just in Nigeria, but around the world.
▶ 0:47:52And I want to personally thank you, Chairman Smith, for your tireless efforts over the decades about religious freedom and of course other human rights abuses, including combating human trafficking. So, thank you, Chairman Smith. I welcome your questions.
▶ 0:48:02Thank you so very much um for your phrase incentivize and compel, which you used, Ambassador Pratt, I think is an excellent one last night. And I know others met with the delegation that traveled here, and I know they're meeting with you and other at state. um the head of um national security adviser uh Ra Rabuda um and his delegation including the attorney general.
▶ 0:48:30I raised um the very significant issue of CPC is not forever. You can get off of it and everybody who gets put on CPC or including uh on the relig on the trafficking laws and I wrote them trafficking victims protection act.
▶ 0:48:49I wrote that in the year 2000 and I have met with more delegations who always say not us that's you know somebody else is doing the trafficking it's not us there's always this culture of denial uh and that goes for states that are our allies who get put on that list um and that includes CPC and as well as u countries that are not necessarily our allies like China which is both a tier three country for trafficking and a [clears throat] CPC country and has been from the very beginning
▶ 0:49:19of of of implementation of Frank Wolf's famous law, the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. So, I I you know, it's such a familiar reframe and it flies in the face of evidence and evidence is what it's all about. Uh I mean, the prosecutorial discretion that is not shown in Nigeria to go after and to deploy detectives and and and protection capabilities from the police, it's just not there. We hear it so frequently.
▶ 0:49:48uh and if it is there show us uh you know they always say well they they're bandits they're this or that but what's the motivation behind Bokar Ram and I went to my opening statement or would remind you I kept asking the administration then uh why do you keep dismissing that this isn't a a radical Islamist organization called Boo Haram yet they hate moderate Muslims too I've heard that as I said from many IMs myself and they certainly hate Christians and will kill them to
▶ 0:50:18procure their ends. So I I just you know we need to have that in all human rights. I found that that be the case. Author of two laws on on religious freedom. I did the Frank Wolf build in 2016 which put entities of particular concern a lot of other things into the law. Uh working with Frank who is in retirement. Uh Wolf that champion for religious freedom.
▶ 0:50:41And and I got to tell you, you know, every time we I talk to a delegation, every single time they deny it every time. And after a while, you know, it's like, you know, what's your denial going to be? So last night when I was talking to this high level delegation, I know some of my colleagues met with them as well. U I said, we're just looking for progress. We're standing with your oppressed These Nigerians are not Americans. We do have a very large diaspora.
▶ 0:51:11They're wonderful, many in New Jersey. But we're not talking about that. We're talking about in the country and we stand in solidarity with the oppressed and not the oppressor. And we wrote in the original Religious Freedom Act, uh, and this is very important because they say, "Well, we're not killing people.
▶ 0:51:26We're not doing well engaged in or tolerated uh tolerated, you know, when you don't prosecute, when you don't protect, that's toleration, and that's written right into the law as a criteria for designation of CPC." So I I you know I know that's what you've done and I thank you for your due diligence on this. And you know there are a lot of other groups left and right and I you know Amnesty International keeps um um uh saying and I and I've raised this with the ICC.
▶ 0:51:52I've had ICC prosecutors testify at my hearings particularly under Gordon Korabach when they were using food as a weapon. Uh we're not signatories to it but it it's out there. Well, Nigeria is and amnesty again last year. They keep asking where's the prosecutions for this am Nigeria amnesty international petitions the ICC judges to end prosecutors delaying of justice for atrocity crimes. So are they wrong too?
▶ 0:52:18You know um and I do hope that and without objection I would ask that that article be made a part of the record about amnesty. So it's it's very very concerning. Um and and I do hope that you will um know that this is just part for the course. It's just not us. And it gets very very tiresome. You know, show us that it's not you. Um open it all up. Uh how many of you, you know, where are the prosecutions?
▶ 0:52:46Uh you know, we hear from so many Christians that they dial in to the police and nobody shows up. Uh and then there's no investigation. One of my sons is a detective. You got to do detective work. find out who it is and put them into jail if they're guilty. And that's not happening. They give some numbers. I remember with Nicholas Chaesco when I fought against the security, we used to have people coming around this place saying, "Oh, he's a great he has church. He has no religious freedom issues.
▶ 0:53:13He allows churches." He was crushing the Jewish as well as the Christian um um um communities uh in in through his securitate, the the secret police of Romania. So I you know it's like we just see seeing this reframe over and over again. So if you might want to comment on that because again my argument last night to that high level delegation we want you to succeed.
▶ 0:53:38We absolutely want you to rid yourself of this cancer uh that hates moderate Muslims and absolutely hates and kills as well Christians.
▶ 0:53:51Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Well, as you and I uh discussed yesterday, um the designation uh we hope will uh sharpen minds and sharpen attention to the issue. Um as you mentioned, there is a delegation already here now in Washington this week, a very senior delegation. Uh they'll be meeting uh with the deputy secretary of state. Um they're meeting with Department of War uh officials as well.
▶ 0:54:21And um the secretary of state has directed us at the state department to uh work with the Nigerian government on an action plan and to set up a task force to address this issue and use all of the tools that are at our disposal to focus minds and focus attention on this issue. Thank
▶ 0:54:43As you mentioned, chairman, [clears throat] this is not a new issue. This has been going on Nigeria for several years. President Trump designated Nigeria in 2020 and the previous administration removed Nigeria as a CPC in 2021 and 2022 and 2023. And so a CPC designation as as my colleague just mentioned focuses the minds of of people in Nigeria. It puts the onus on the government of Nigeria to take action to protect its own citizens including people of all faiths, not just Christians.
▶ 0:55:13Muslim communities are affected as well, other communities. And so the CPC designation is a step that starts a conversation that leads to greater engagement with Nigerian government because ultimately this is their responsibility.
▶ 0:55:25Let me just um there is talk while CPC is not a designation of of genocide. Um there is a very cogent argument to be made that this is a genocide. And I remind people that you know again there's all this denial. You know, I had three hearings on the Armenian genocide and I had sitting right where you're sitting, Mr.
▶ 0:55:48McGee, an ambassador from um from Turkey who said, "If you recognize," and we had a good bipartisan effort going on this, "If you recognize the so-called Armenian genocide, we'll throw you out of your base in Insurlic." And I said, "What a great NATO partner you are." Uh it was just amazing. We've seen it over and over again.
▶ 0:56:09uh you know when I went to Darur and met with um Bashir um you know we then went to the UN human rights commission as it was called then not the council uh we couldn't we were flabbergasted that they wouldn't call what was happening in Darur uh a genocide and again I remind everybody article two says um uh in the genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy in or in part uh a national ethical uh racial or religious group as such
▶ 0:56:39in whole or in part. Uh it's very clear that we're not talking in CPC about genocide, but when we fought against ISIS and Jeff Foronbury did a very serious bill because the administration then would not recognize uh what ISIS was doing to the Calaldanss and I went and visited with them in in in that part of the world. Uh I was shocked that they wouldn't do it.
▶ 0:57:01we got a bipartisan people piece of legislation passed uh that did recognize the genocide and then finally John Curry said okay well you know we'll call it what it is so you know in part and that's what's happening here at least in part and the president did say he's worried about the extermination if it's allowed to continue onwards so uh I would like to ask just um for the record um the department has seven positions vacant in our embassy in Nigeria including individual rights religious freedom reports
▶ 0:57:31and the like. Uh I just encourage you to fill those uh as quickly as possible. Um I think that would be very helpful if you could and I yield to Miss Jacobson.
▶ 0:57:43Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um so as I noted in my opening remarks, a recent DEVEX article described a former program um from Search for Common Ground that Secretary Rubio terminated earlier this year. This program set up critical earning early warning systems in communities in Yawwada, a predominantly Christian region in Nigeria's middleb belt that actually worked in decreasing um instances of violence and deaths. In June, this same community experienced an attack, but without that early warning system.
▶ 0:58:10Nearly 200 people died and 4,000 people fled their homes. Security forces arrived long after the attackers left. And had this program still been in place, it could have prevented some of these deaths by sending early warning signs ahead of the attack and taking actions to prevent or respond to it. Mr. McGee, this program was funded by your bure bureau, the Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Bureau. Can you explain to the committee why the department canceled this program?
▶ 0:58:34Thank you for your question, Ranking Member Jacobs. As Secretary Rubio has said time and again, America is the most generous country in the world and we will continue to be the most generous country in the world. We are looking at every option to stop this atrocious violence, but ultimately the violence must be stopped by the Nigerian government. In terms of programming,
▶ 0:58:53will you recommend restarting this program to the secretary?
▶ 0:58:56So to to your question, ranking member Jacobs, we do have ongoing program including early warning and early response systems that are effective across the middle belt and they have saved lives. And so we have a lot of tools at our disposal in DRL and across the state department that is not just assistance but is security that is economic engagement across the state department. We're reviewing every single tool that we have to make sure that this violence stops.
▶ 0:59:21But ultimately America can partner with the Nigerian government, but the Nigerian government must take responsibility and protect religious freedom for all communities, especially Christians right now who are suffering disproportionately. So, my understanding is that most of those programs have been canceled, but I look forward to hearing from you which of those programs have continued to be funded and and which you intend to restart.
▶ 0:59:41Um, earlier this month, President Trump posted on True Social threatening to cut off all aid to Nigeria and go into the country quote guns ablazing to quote completely wipe out terrorists. He ordered Secretary Hexets to prepare for possible actions. This reckless threat provoked calls within the Nigerian government and public to respect Nigeria's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Ambassador Pratt, what role has Secretary Rubio been given to respond to this challenge using diplomatic and development tools?
▶ 1:00:11Thank you for the question. Um uh the Secretary of State, as I as I mentioned, um has directed us to come up with a comprehensive plan using all of the tools that are at our disposal, primarily diplomatic, um but also security, also assistance, cooperation programs. Um this would span from security to policing to economic. Um we want to look at all of these tools and have a comprehensive strategy to get the best result possible.
▶ 1:00:40Great. We will look forward to seeing that strategy. Um, there were public reports that Ariccom has laid out three potential military options. What is the status of this decision at an inter agency level? We have had inter agency discussions about all of the tools that are at our disposal, including on the security side of the equation, and we have a live discussion with the Nigerian government about how we can assist them in responding to security threats in the country, including this one.
▶ 1:01:09Have there been any NYSE meetings on this issue?
▶ 1:01:11There have.
▶ 1:01:12Okay. And um [clears throat] uh I want to turn to another program um that I raised during my remarks. Um the community initiatives to promote peace. Again, this one incredibly successful saw positive results showing that only 10% of people who received this training experienced violence in their communities compared to 41% of people who didn't. This is an extremely lowcost effective intervention. And yet again, this program was eliminated. Mr.
▶ 1:01:39McGee, can you help the committee understand why this program wasn't deemed worthwhile to
▶ 1:01:45So again, the program that I mentioned that we still have continuing in middle, early warning, early response also includes dialogue amongst religious communities and we have seen effective um dialogue between those communities that do promote religious tolerance addressing some of the root causes that you mentioned earlier. And so we're committed to continue to provide um support to the Nigerian government. Um that obviously programming doesn't go to the Nigerian government. It goes to locally uh owned and locally managed programming opportunities.
▶ 1:02:11And so we're still we're still doing that programming and we're committed to use every tool at our disposal to help the Nigerian government take care of this issue.
▶ 1:02:18Thank you. Um the sec the state department still has not submitted the annual international religious freedom report that is statutoily required by May of this year. It's November. Um this committee has not seen this administration's analysis therefore of the situation in Nigeria or actions taken in support of religious freedom. Um Mr. McGee, when will we uh see this report? When will the state department submit it?
▶ 1:02:42So as you mentioned uh ranking member Jacobs, the Earth reports are a valuable tool to give an overview of religious freedom in every country around the world and to to tell the Nigerian government steps they can take and the situation on the ground. Um so we're working on those and will be released soon. There's also, of course, the human rights reports that have been released that are a snapshot or an overview of the human rights condition in every country around the world, 198 countries and territories. And so, we're committed to releasing the Earth reports as soon as they're ready.
▶ 1:03:10Okay, great. Um, in mid-occtober, senior adviser Bulos stated that Boo Haram and ISIS are killing more Muslims than Christians. What is the State Department's assessment? Have these groups killed more Muslims or Christians? And what evidence is the State Department citing that Christians in Nigeria are at specific grave risk of
▶ 1:03:29So, President Trump has made clear that we are to respect and promote religious freedom for all communities. In Nigeria, there is a particular problem of targeting of Christians and they have suffered a disproportionate number of killings compared to their population, especially in the middle belt.
▶ 1:03:45And when we see attackers chanting religious slogans, churches being destroyed to the tune of thousands over the last several years, thousands of Christians being killed, and particular targeting on Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter and other holidays, this shows there's a religious component targeted towards Christians in particular. That being said, we stand with all communities around the world um who are suffering religious persecution because of their faith. We value religious freedom as a per se good and we're committed to protect religious communities no matter where they are.
▶ 1:04:15As I think Chairman Smith mentioned his remarks, of the thousands of Christians who have been killed this year around the world, the vast majority have been killed in Nigeria, which is a problem the government of Nigeria must take
▶ 1:04:27Okay. I disagree with your assessment, but I look forward to seeing the report that has it all laid out. Last question, Ambassador Pratt. Yesterday, President Trump announced this administration would start focusing on trying to end the war in Sudan. Um this is a welcome development and I I hope you all are successful. I am however concerned that the sporadic high level attention without the appropriate staff at the working level will not be enough to bring a sustained end to the war or transition to a real peace process that includes Sudin civilians.
▶ 1:04:55Could you share more about the State Department strategy to bring the war in Sudan to an end? How many people on your team are dedicated to this portfolio? Has there been an NAC meeting about this recently? Will there be shortly? How can we be sure that this will be a sustained uh
▶ 1:05:11Uh thank you very much um uh Ranking Member Jacobs. I'm very proud uh to have fought uh very hard uh to retain all of the staff in the Africa Bureau uh during the recent um reorganization that the State Department undertook. We were able to prevent very excuse me present very convincing data about the understaffing historically in the bureau.
▶ 1:05:34And so not only did we retain staff, we also gained additional staff uh to help on the assistance side on Sudan, we retain a very large office uh by state department standards [snorts] uh focused on Sudan and we are very lucky to have senior adviser Bulos who has brought highlevel white house attention to two key issues for us which is eastern DRC as you know and Sudan. Senior adviser Bulles has also worked on other issues to bring profile and attention to them.
▶ 1:06:04And so we welcome uh the president's uh comments and profile in his meetings uh with the Saudi leader yesterday uh to to draw attention and uh resources to this issue.
▶ 1:06:17Okay. Um listen, I I know you all are doing what you can. AF is mostly intact. ST staff bandwidth is still limited by USA ID cuts at embassy and the cut to the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations that I know was working hard on this issue and um you've yet the administration has yet to name a special envoy for Sudan. Um so I look forward to to continuing this conversation to make sure that you all have what you need to be successful in this endeavor. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I owe back
▶ 1:06:43Mr. Baird.
▶ 1:06:47Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want to thank our witnesses for being here. My question uh deals with uh the responsibility and we've heard a lot about that already of the Nigerian government for putting an end to this prosecution or persecution. Uh so has the United States really been able to see any progress in terms of the Nigerian government recognizing a duty uh on its part to reduce this persecution and targeted violence?
▶ 1:07:17And to the and to what extent if any has the government's accountability made any improvement in reducing these
▶ 1:07:28So as I mentioned in my opening statement, thank you for your question, Representative Baird. Um the Nigerian government has to do more. There have been attacks where zero perpetrators have been held to account and zero prosecutions. Um heinous attacks that cost lives that drive people out of their homes. There are hundreds of thousands if not millions of internally displaced peoples and those individuals who cause that displacement have not been held to account. So as uh SPO Pratt mentioned, we're having high level engagement with Nigerian government.
▶ 1:07:54We have a great partnership on a lot of issues like security, trade, other things, but we're encouraging them to actually take ownership of this responsibility and prosecute the criminals and terrorists who have perpetrated this persecution.
▶ 1:08:09So, do you feel like there's any any movement on the part of the government, Nigerian government, to do that to move to protect their people? I mean, I just wanted a hint of whether they're moving that direction or not. So I think President Trump took bold action in red designating Nigeria as a CPC and that I believe has gotten the attention of the Nigerian government. We're engaged in high level dialogues with them including this week at the very highest levels.
▶ 1:08:34We're planning engagement on the ground both through our embassy there and other trips um to make sure that Nigerians hear our very um important message that they have to do better. So I think we're making progress in the right direction. President Trump's bold action on the CPC designation was an important step. um it's gotten their attention in the Nigerian government, but we need to do a lot more.
▶ 1:08:57So, Mr. Pratt, I want to I want to delve a little deeper into that uh CPC designation that he just mentioned. Uh and you know, the Trump's administration designated Nigeria as a CPC. So, do you anticipate the administration will be less likely to issue a waiver in the current administration as opposed to President Trump's first term?
▶ 1:09:22And if the president does not issue a waiver this time, do you think that the lack of a waiver now will apply to the necessary pressure to the government to reduce these persecutions?
▶ 1:09:35Thank you very much. We are uh putting together as I mentioned a comprehensive plan to use all the tools available and so I expect as we're cooperating with the government of Nigeria on on what those tools will be if there is specific uh US government programs or assistance that will require a waiver and through agreement uh in our cooperative relationship with the government of Nigeria on what will be effective and successful that we may need to seek waivers for some programs.
▶ 1:10:05There may be other programs that we will not seek waiverss for.
▶ 1:10:09Thank you. Mr. McGee, do you have any any comments in that regard?
▶ 1:10:14I would just echo what uh SPO Pratt has said that we're engaged in high levels and if waiverss are needed for certain programs, we're willing to do that. Um but the important thing is to get the Nigerian government's attention, including about the Sharia law that still exists in 12 northern states up to and including the death penalty as a device of punishment. And so we're having frank conversations with Nigerians at all levels of government and are committed to do whatever it takes to to continue to encourage them to take actual action and not just talk.
▶ 1:10:44So I thank both of you for being here and Mr. Chairman I yield back. I thank you very much Miss Jaipal.
▶ 1:10:51Thank you Mr. Chairman. Um, I want to thank our witnesses for being here this morning. And before we turn to Nigeria, since this is the first time we have uh you in front of us, in front of the committee, I just want to quickly talk about Sudan because I do think this is so critical and um the humanitarian situation there, the, you know, the incredible numbers.
▶ 1:11:15I mean, 400,000 killed, over 11 million displaced, 30 million in need of humanitarian aid. This is just a stunning crisis and I did want to appreciate um the administration's recent comments on this, particularly Secretary Rubio um when he called for action to cut off the supply of weapons uh to the rapid support forces and uh as the secretary had previously acknowledged, it has been widely documented that the UAE
▶ 1:11:47um has been one of the primary drivers in fueling those weapons to the RSF. So, I hope that um I want to urge the administration to use every piece of leverage that we have to halt that support. And I hope, Mr. Chairman, thank you for your leadership and for the ranking members leadership on this issue. I hope that we can take up um the bill from Representative Meeks and Representative Jacobs.
▶ 1:12:12I know it was on our agenda, but I think it's important for us to to take up that bill at the earliest opportunity because this is a moment for us, I think, to all focus on the horrific crisis there. So, just want to urge you to do everything you can and we are spending a lot of time on this issue. I have a lot of constituents um who are directly impacted by this in the Sudin diaspora. So, um thank you for that. Uh the devastating levels of violence in Nigeria are clear.
▶ 1:12:40Uh but I appreciate that people have also recognized it isn't just the persecution of Christians. This is persecution of multiple um groups. And I think we have to be careful not to portray it just as persecution of Christians. That feels to me simplistic and it doesn't account for the intersectional diversity of Nigeria. Certainly religion is a contributing factor to the violence.
▶ 1:13:05Um but a review by the search for common ground found that in Nigeria's middle belt region religion was not a primary driver of conflict. Instead violence has been directed against both Christians and Muslims regardless of religion at the hands of armed terror groups like Boka Haram and ISIS West Africa or fueled by differences in lifestyle between farmer and herder groups compounded by climate change and governance issues.
▶ 1:13:34And so I'm uh I want to start by saying I'm very concerned that a day after President Trump saw a clip on Fox News about the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, he threatened to go quote guns ablazing in Nigeria and revoke all assistance. That would include all global health funding despite Nigeria accounting for over a quarter of annual malaria deaths a year um and being home to the world's third largest population living with HIV.
▶ 1:14:01These are all issues I worked on in Africa long before coming to Congress. In response, the Nigerian government criticized any action that would violate Nigeria's sovereignty and territorial integrity. I know, Ambassador Pratt, that you've spoken about some agreements, some conversations and a task force uh with the Nigerian government, but can you tell me under what authority would the US military strike inside of Nigeria?
▶ 1:14:29Well, the secretary uh of state and thank you for the the question uh congresswoman. The secretary of state has directed us to put together a comprehensive plan that uses all tools at our disposal including security and and department of war and this would be primarily focused on the security that we are providing to the government of Nigeria uh and how they are deploying their assets. Um we can also share information and intelligence.
▶ 1:14:55um we can talk about counterterrorism and so um those are the tools that that we are primarily looking at in our strategy.
▶ 1:15:03Don't you think it would have been appropriate to have the task force discussion and uh the alternatives presented prior to the president going on truth social and saying we're going to go guns ablazing into Nigeria.
▶ 1:15:16We've been working on these problem sets in Nigeria for a a long time. Um we have a lot of uh uh programs of assistance in the country. Um they did under undergo a foreign assistance review. Um but many of them continue and we want to make sure that we're using them strategically to get the best outcomes.
▶ 1:15:37Very diplomatically said, ambassador. Um I just wish we would actually stick to that playbook rather than a bully and threaten of a country that is extremely important to us and to the region. I don't think that's the right way to go to just go on Truth Social and threaten guns ablazing. Um I think what you've described is much more appropriate and I look forward to um to seeing what comes out of that.
▶ 1:16:03You know, we had uh Ambassador Kelly Curry here before um before a different subcommittee of this committee, former Trump appointee. Um, and she said in front of the committee in a hearing yesterday, I think it's a very relevant quote, you cannot solve problems created by men with guns by turning to men with guns for this solution. And I just would urge us to think about that. This is coming from a Trump uh appoint former Trump appointee.
▶ 1:16:31I think if we were to do this, it would just serve to further radicalize communities and risk turning the aggression of actors like Boo Haram and ISIS West Africa directly to the United States. Um, I want to I just have 50.
▶ 1:16:44Gentle lady has expired.
▶ 1:16:46Oh, it's expired. I'm so sorry. I thought I had 50 seconds left. Thank you for your indulgence. I yield back.
▶ 1:16:51Thank you. Chair recognizes Mr. Hzena.
▶ 1:16:55Uh, thank you, Chairman Smith. And I I'm going to deviate a little bit from my uh from my written remarks, much to the chagrin of my staff, but I feel it needs to to to be addressed right from the very beginning. The simple fact is radical radicalized Islamists are running a muck in Nigeria. They are terrorizing moderate Muslims. They're terrorizing Christians and they are targeting Christians. That cannot be disputed.
▶ 1:17:23And while we see many people trying to emphasize that the outside lifestyle, who owns land, who is the herder, etc., etc. They want to emphasize that that those are the key drivers and that they're the key drivers of everything but religion. And I and many others, and I'm not just talking about those of us on this committee or Americans.
▶ 1:17:47I'm talking about religious leaders in Nigeria believe religion is one if one of if not the main driver of targeted violence right now. We just heard from Bishop Anag. Uh a week ago, week and a half ago, I talked to uh President Magaji. Uh, President Magaji is the president of my own uh he's the Nigerian president of my own faith uh uh sect uh the the Christian reform church.
▶ 1:18:17We have 400,000 uh mostly from a Dutch background uh uh 400,000 participants and and and uh and members here in North America between the United States and and Canada. We have 500,000 in Nigeria. We are essentially an African church that happens to be headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan. and I want to ask this question because this this seems to be sort of part of the central uh argument.
▶ 1:18:47Well, this isn't necessary. Well, certainly the Trump administration believed it was necessary the first goound. And I want to ask this question. Did things improve when the Biden administration removed the CPC?
▶ 1:19:02Thank you for your question, Represent. And and just for the record, I'm seeing a number of heads shaking no in the right behind you. And these are these are these are people that may have a little better information than what the American media is and they're all nodding their head right now. So go
▶ 1:19:16Thank you for your question, Representative Heisenga. As you mentioned, violence has increased over the last several years. Um it was unfortunate that the Biden administration chose to remove Nigeria as a CPC in 2021 and 2022 and 2023. And President Trump's bold action to redesate them is a wake-up call to the Nigerian government. And as you mentioned, religion is extremist religious ideology is of course a primary motivator of these attacks. The attackers themselves use religious language. They target churches. They target Christians on holidays.
▶ 1:19:47Yeah. And absolutely. It was Christmas Eve of 2023 when 200 people were murdered, killed
▶ 1:19:53uh in a in in a church. Now, I I want to ask this. Um so one question was did things improve? I think the answer is no on that. Uh is here's the question do we see Christians killing Muslims in Christian areas of Nigeria the way that we are seeing radicalized Islamists killing Christians in Muslim areas of
▶ 1:20:25What I can tell you, Representative Heisenga, is that Christians are disproportionately targeted based on their population.
▶ 1:20:31Exly. Exactly. And by the way, for those that you can't pick up with the microphones, there's audible yeses behind you. Again, the people that are watching who are nodding their heads. Why? Because they have lived this. Their families have lived this. I went to school with kids from Nigeria.
▶ 1:20:55got neighbors who've been missionaries there, who have family there, who have friends there, who know this is going on. Yet, we've got not just the mass media. We got people within Congress denying that this is happening or certainly deemphasizing it.
▶ 1:21:14It ought to be outrageous that it is Christians, moderate Muslims, anyone being terrorized by these radicalized Islamists in Nigeria and we've got the Tonubu government sitting back and not doing enough. And I recently just was interviewed by Nigerian television Arise TV and that was really their question. Is the Tonuba government doing enough? And I had to answer no they are not.
▶ 1:21:42And I do not understand how a delegation can come here to the United States and downplay and come up with all of these other excuses as to why this is allowed to happen. It should be rejected and should be called out for what it is. And I um I've got a couple of other questions that I'm my time has expired that I'm going to have to go uh and and and ask for them in written uh responses.
▶ 1:22:10But uh I'm going to one of them I need to highlight is uh in in Benway state there's 1.4 million people who are who are considered internally [snorts] Understanding that the administration has supported refugee assistance in dozens of other countries since taking office.
▶ 1:22:27What humanitarian assistance support are you providing or plan to provide to the IDPs in Benway and Taraba states uh where many of those Christian uh communities reside and um I'll have to take the answer in writing and Mr.
▶ 1:22:42Chairman, with your with your indul indulgence, just to just to show the breadth of this, I want to uh uh put in submit for the record remarks from uh the chairman of the financial uh services committee, French Hill, from uh from Arkansas, who was also serves on the uh on the House uh Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Intel Committee. Uh and I serve as vice chair of the of the Committee of Financial Services. This is where many of those sanctions originate and and the enforcement.
▶ 1:23:11And I will say this, sanctions are only as good as your willingness to to enforce them. And as the chairman has pointed out, there are ways to get out of those sanctions. And that's through correct your behavior. Uh so with that, Mr. Chairman, I'd like to submit the order.
▶ 1:23:26Thank you. And with that, I yield back.
▶ 1:23:28Chair recognizes Mr. Jackson.
▶ 1:23:34Thank you, Chairman Smith. Thank you, Ranking Member Jacobs, and the distinguished members of the subcommittee. Thank you for convening this critical hearing. The crisis in Nigeria demands our cleareyed attention, not political exploitation. I'd like to thank our uh esteemed panelists that have taken the time to come before you us today. Thank you for your work on Africa on the ground and at least one of you brings that experience.
▶ 1:24:03However, I must express my um shock and if you will a bit of outrage that we are not putting into these top positions people who are directly from and represent the culture and the lived experiences of the African people.
▶ 1:24:19Um currently we still have unfulfilled positions that are very important which demonstrates this administration's lack of sincerity uh towards moving us towards more dialogue as opposed to destruction. The assistant secretary for African affairs has not been uh appointed or even nominated. The senior director for Africa at the NFC has not been appointed or directed uh for Middle East and African affairs.
▶ 1:24:50I've had the honor of traveling to Nigeria now for four decades and meeting with Nigerians in the diaspora for decades as well. They are unequivocally some of the most tolerant, productive, and loving people that you will ever meet. We are speaking today about a nation of extraordinary promise and complexity. a [snorts] country of nearly 240 million people home to 250 ethnic groups and two major religions, Christianity and Islam, that have coexisted and built a society together for generations.
▶ 1:25:21The idea that this nation is simply engaged in a one-sided religious war I believe is a dangerous fiction. The current government led by President Tinibu, a Muslim married to an ordained Christian minister, reflects this complexity. Out of the nine top security chiefs, five are Christians, including the chief of defense staff and the head of the air force. Nigeria is a diverse, complex democracy, and we must treat it as such.
▶ 1:25:51The suffering in Nigeria is immense. The insecurity is a major issue for all Nigerians. We must stand firmly with every victim and survivor. Violence against any person of faith is unacceptable. With approximately 8,000 civilians of all faiths killed so far this year, the pain felt by Christians and Muslim communities alike deserve our compassion and again not our exploitation.
▶ 1:26:18The truth is that Nigeria's wave of violence stems from a complex mix of ethnic, economic, external and religious tensions. Boka Haram and other extremist groups have killed both Christians and Muslims inter indiscriminately. Communities across Nigeria from farmers in Plateau State to herders in the north have suffered unspeakable staggering losses.
▶ 1:26:42To simplify this tragedy by calling it solely a Christian genocide, I believe ignores the full difficult truth and the suffering of all Nigerians. Therefore, the answer, I believe, is not and will never be American bombs or boots on the ground. We have not given diplomacy an exhaustive chance.
▶ 1:27:03I have previously denounced the threat to deploy US troops to Nigeria, calling it a dangerous overreach that risk reigniting colonial error patterns of intervention on the African continent. We cannot allow the sudden interest in Nigeria's internal conflict to be a pretext for military action when this same impulse was absent in the Sudan, in the DRC or the Central African Republic.
▶ 1:27:29Furthermore, we must address the sheer hypocrisy of a military first approach when non-military support has been repeatedly undermined. As the New York Times Nicholas Kristoff has rightly stated, Trump aid cuts kill more Christians than jihadists, deep cuts to the US aid program and global food and health programs have severely limited America's ability to provide the kind of non-military support that was estimated to be saving the lives of more than a quarter million
▶ 1:27:59Nigerians each year. When you defund USAD and shut down peace buildingilding initiatives, you leave communities vulnerable. You don't stabilize Africa with missiles. You stabilize it with schools, with clean water, with economic opportunity, with true partnership. The path to peace in Nigeria must come through dialogue, development, and dignity, not America should be a partner in healing, not a hammer looking for a nail.
▶ 1:28:27I urge this subcommittee to prioritize a diplomacy first approach, fully fund our humanitarian aid and peaceuilding initiatives, and work with the Nigerian government to eliminate terrorist criminal groups, securing a safer and more stable future for all Nigerians. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I look forward to the testimony. I yield back.
▶ 1:28:50Thank you very much.
▶ 1:28:54Who's next?
▶ 1:28:55Mr. Fine. Chair recognizes Mr. Fine.
▶ 1:28:58Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and and thank you for allowing me to participate today. You know, as I thought about what I would talk about today, I thought of a flag that I saw flown on October 7th, 2023. It said, "First we come for the Saturday people. Tomorrow we come for the Sunday people." And as we have this hearing today, I asked myself, how many countries are we going to allow this to happen in until we take it seriously?
▶ 1:29:22On October 7th, 2023, people yelling, "Allahu Akbar attempted to genocide the Jews." A few months ago, people yelling, "Allahu Akbar attempted to genocide the Drews in Syria." And here we are talking today about another group of people yelling Allahu Akbar trying to genocide Christians. How many countries are we going to have this happen to?
▶ 1:29:44How often are we going to allow this to be whitewashed and both sidarists until we acknowledge that we have a serious problem that we have out there? You know, I want to thank President Trump for doing this. Joe Biden never should have done it. And my question when I get to it will be, why do you think he did? Why do you think he took them off the list? But I want to thank President Trump for taking a leadership role because we must stomp out this evil wherever it presents itself. I want to thank the chairman for choosing to have a hearing on this.
▶ 1:30:11And I want to thank my colleague, my fellow freshman, Representative Moore, for also raising the profile of this issue around the world. It is easy for me to criticize this when it happens in Israel and when it happens with the Jews, given who I am, but it is important that we call out evil wherever it is. And I am sick and tired of the fetishism and the whitewashing of the problem. This is a real problem that we have to acknowledge in a country where you can get the death penalty for criticizing a religion. And we'll talk about that if I have time to get to questions.
▶ 1:30:42That is not okay. That is not acceptable. That is not a value that America should ever stand by and allow. We are allowed to have whatever opinions we want in this country, no matter how repres reprehensible they may be. We should demand that from others if they wish for our aid and assistance. But what I'm most tired of is the delusional belief that if we all just sit down around some sort of hypothetical drum circle, as I heard earlier, that we can resolve our differences.
▶ 1:31:08People are being killed, and it requires people to stand up and use force to keep them and to make them safe. Um, I'd like to ask the ambassador, since 2009, it's believed Christian churches have been destroyed. My question to you is, was that a coincidence? Was they were they just like randomly targeting buildings and they these 19,000 buildings happened to be churches or were they targeted because they were churches?
▶ 1:31:39Thank you for the question, Congressman. Uh as my my colleague uh has has said and uh the Trump administration strongly believes that there has been a uh number of attacks on Christian communities which is the reason for the
▶ 1:31:55Okay. And so let me ask let me follow up with this. Why do you think Joe Biden decided given this was going on, we're all good? We're taking this away. Everything's going to be fine now. What what led to this delusional strategy that led to the deaths of Christian
▶ 1:32:10I can't speak to that decision. What do you think? I would say that there was probably a discussion around uh strategic interests but the performance did not achieve the result intended which is why this administration has made a decision that we need to see more performance in this area in terms of security for all Nigerians but especially to tackle this particular problem.
▶ 1:32:36Okay. Um I'd like to ask Mr. McGee a question. Um, what is the administration's position and how strongly have you encouraged the Nigerian government as it relates to blasphemy laws? You know, this idea you talked about problems that people are having there. They go to jail for years because of their words, because of their criticism. Not saying I agree with their criticism all the time, but all they're doing is they're not threatening anyone. They're not killing anyone, but somehow they go to jail for blasphemy.
▶ 1:33:05Something unfortunately many people moving to this country want to impose on us here. What has the administration done to say to that? That's not okay. We're not going to abide by that.
▶ 1:33:15So, it is unacceptable in a free and democratic society to have blasphemy laws. Period. They are not only imposing on somebody's free speech, but they're also imposing on the right to practice their own religion freely. And when blasphemy laws are used as a tool by the mob or or bandits, whatever you want to call them, to attack Christians, it shows that blasphemy laws are a problem per se.
▶ 1:33:37It's one of the reasons, one of the many reasons why the Trump administration opposes these laws and it's one of the reasons why Nigeria is on the CPC list because these Sharia laws are being used as a bludgeon against Christians often times.
▶ 1:33:48Well, I want to thank you both for being here and I I will close by thanking President Trump for being willing to go after Muslim terror wherever it rears its ugly head around the world. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
▶ 1:33:59Thank you, Mr. Fine. Uh Dr. McCormack,
▶ 1:34:03thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you for having this hearing. Uh Africa is a area of particular concern to myself, a person who's been deployed there a couple times on Marine Expeditionary Units, seen some horrible things. It was interesting to me when the uh one of the caucuses here in this August house uh claimed that President Bush waited too long to go into a certain country to secure the capital of Liberia uh after a presidential uh exile because he didn't give a damn
▶ 1:34:33about Africans. Meanwhile, we stood by during the Clinton administration in '94 when I was in inbi Uganda waiting to go into Ug uh into Rwanda while about a million people were killed in very similar fashion to what's happening right now. People being hacked to death with machetes. I've seen some very graphic things and what's going on right now. People literally being dismembered by machetes. People digging their own graves and and and literally being just summarily executed.
▶ 1:35:02And yet the right thing to do is continue with the diplomacy that's resulted in this all along to to take them off the CPC. And and this idea that there was this ever went away is ridiculous. Um we're right now considering selling arms the one of the most advanced attack helicopters, the AH1 whiskey, the Viper, uh or actually it's the Zulu. I'm very concerned with how that's going to be deployed and against whom.
▶ 1:35:30We've seen the integration of of uh very very radical people inside of the government agencies themselves where and we've seen this in Afghan when I was in Afghanistan. We saw the same thing where where the bad actors actually get inside of the government agencies and and turn upon their own people. Very concerning. We saw Trim Gambarian, one of my constituents, taken hostage by the Nigerian government and held hostage for several months because of some business dispute they had with somebody in America.
▶ 1:35:58Bad acting on the Nigerian government's behalf. Now, you talked about I'm going to quote you on high level things, Mr. McGee high level meetings uh what the next step would be a lot more but I'm asking for specifics at this point because I've never seen generalities ever result in anything that's been of consequence what can we do on the intern by an international community whether it be from the transnation uh uh in
▶ 1:36:28Africa or through the international community through the UN which I've seen be highly ineffective in the past but what can we do of of of quantity and quality that's actually going to make a difference in Africa because we haven't been doing it. What specifically not generalities? Can you give me those answers between the two of you?
▶ 1:36:47Uh sir, just a clarification please. Uh across all of Africa or specifically in
▶ 1:36:52specifically in Nigeria, but all of Africa can actually contribute to solving this problem. We can use
▶ 1:36:58several countries to help us out with this. We don't have to be the only force to to be uh development and commercial investment in the continent can yield the best dividends. Uh which is one of the reasons why uh this administration has focused so heavily on our commercial strategy in Africa.
▶ 1:37:27uh we we rewrote the strategy and we've focused very heavily on delivering US companies to the continent because we believe that they uh offer the best in terms of quality and can bring the most development and it also delivers for the United States. Um we've focused very heavily on security and ARICOM has engaged heavily across the continent. So security is very important. Law enforcement is a very important piece of that as well.
▶ 1:37:56Uh, and so I'd say, um, as you look across the continent, the number one priority that I would place because it lifts all boats is the economic piece and I'd focus on commercial.
▶ 1:38:07So, so the ARICOM commander is a Marine, fourstar, good friend of mine and I understand what his limitations have been. You know, obviously we don't want to be if you're not invited into it, a country it makes it much more difficult. I've seen the leverage we have economically, but I'm worried also about pushing them into Chinese arms, which they're ready and waiting to to pill for that country and its resources.
▶ 1:38:28What about how we deal with the international community coming in there and stabilizing it in a in a military fashion so that we can actually stop the violence because it doesn't seem like the government's being effective in that at all. uh the new ARIROM uh commander uh General Anderson, it's good good to hear that uh he's a colleague of yours is uh highly capable as you know special um he's brought uh a lot of focus to the continent and how he would like to
▶ 1:38:58work with African governments including Nigeria on sharing information and on achieving better outcomes on the security side of the equation. And so he's been very very engaged and and I believe will achieve results in terms of security on the continent.
▶ 1:39:16Okay. I'm just gonna once again get back to the central point that wasn't really addressed but I hope is addressed. Yes, we need that financial leverage on them and I think they will pay attention to that. We have their attention but it's not finishing the race. We need to bring the international community on board to solve this and very tangible assets because the violence is real. It's not stopping and Nigeria does not seem to be taking this seriously. Thank you. With that, I yield.
▶ 1:39:39Thank you very much, uh, Dr. Corbick, Mr. [clears throat] Oshhatski.
▶ 1:39:45Thank you very much, uh, Mr. Chairman, and to our ranking member Jacobs, to all our witnesses. Uh, Ambassador Pratt, thank you for your many years of service to our country. Uh, I'll just open by saying I am a man of deep faith. Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. I have no problem sharing that. Uh I am also troubled by the state of religious freedom in Nigeria and around the world. So I want to be clear upfront.
▶ 1:40:12Violence against Christians in Nigeria is a serious issue. Christians are being massacred and communities are living in constant fear. But this suffering is not just confined to one religious group. Masabulos, President Trump's own senior adviser for Africa, recently said, quote, "People are suffering from all sorts of backgrounds. This is not specifically targeted at one group or other.
▶ 1:40:38Terrorism has no color and no religion and no tribe." President Trump's own senior adviser. Muslims and Christians alike have lived under the constant threat of extremist groups like Boo Haram and ISIS West Africa for far too long. And so the real story here for me is not about Nigeria's intent at the institutional level to persecute people based on faith. Instead, it's really an issue of capacity.
▶ 1:41:04The Nigerian government lacks the means to protect communities against groups that kill indiscriminately. To be clear, this does not abdicate the Nigerian government from responsibility. A government's duty is to protect its people. And when there's a failure to do so, whether that's neglect or corruption or governance, leaders must be held accountable. But capacity within Nigerian institutions maintain peace is a real question and we should be asking what the US is doing to help Nigeria build that capacity.
▶ 1:41:34Are we offering real partnerships or just threatening air strikes and sanctions? Um or instead, are we thinking about technical support, training, and investment in the institutions that prevent violence in the first place? So, let's work together to fix what is broken. And I appreciate the ranking member for opening up this hearing um with additional support options. And I want to thank again the chairman for convening this. Um on the issue of capacity, Ambassador Pratt, you've said that Nigeria needs to do more.
▶ 1:42:03Um if they don't have the capacity to do more, um we should help with that. And so I want to know, I guess my question there is, does the State Department assess that the Nigerian government has the capacity to protect Christians and other religious groups from extremist violence?
▶ 1:42:23Nigeria is uh a very uh wealthy country, very uh populist country. Um we believe that this is a a question of focus. There is a security problem in Nigeria, a very serious one that we are trying to help the country address. Uh and we have brought tools to the table in terms of US programs and assistance.
▶ 1:42:50Um in particular on the issue we're discussing today, we would like to see more focus on that particular issue in addition to addressing the larger security question that you referred to.
▶ 1:43:02Okay. look forward to to working with you on that. One other issue that's important to me uh is youth and youth development. Uh the US Commission on International Religious Freedoms 2025 annual report recommended broad support find for Nigerian civil society The US has historically done that. Uh a state department funded program in northeast Nigeria called Nigerian youth care brought together Christian and Muslim youth leaders to promote dialogue between those two communities.
▶ 1:43:31These programs divided Nigerian youth with mentorship and training on how to bridge religious divides. Unfortunately, that program was disrupted for months because of stop work orders and the state department did not grant the impleer an extension of the project at the end of the fiscal year to either the ambassador or Mr. McGee. Can you explain why this project did not receive a nocost extension at the end of the year? And would you recommend to the secretary to reinstitute this program to reduce violence and promote interfaith
▶ 1:43:57Thank you for your question, Representative. Uh, as I said earlier, the United States is by far the most generous country with our foreign aid and we plan to still be the most generous country with our foreign aid as Secretary Ruby has said. So, as some prominent mentioned, we actually have ongoing programming in my bureau um that leads to early warning, early response system that also includes dialogue between religious communities. As many members have stated, this is a complex problem. It's not one that can be addressed with one neat solution.
▶ 1:44:25There are of course like every human action multiple drivers of this persecution and there are multiple communities being affected not just Christians as you mentioned. Um but we must tell the truth that begins an honest relationship with Nigerians is to tell them that a lot of this violence is driven by religion, religious persecution, religious extremist ideology. And so in terms of programming, we're committed to um the programming that we have um on the ground that is effective.
▶ 1:44:49Um, it's saving lives and we are reviewing every foreign assistance dollar at the State Department to make sure that taxpayer dollars are used effectively and actually helps people on the ground. It's great. I thank you both for your time and your testimony today. Look forward to following up on those programs with you. And, uh, with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Thank you.
▶ 1:45:06I'd like to now recognize Mr. Moore.
▶ 1:45:10Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, thank you, Chairman Smith, for convening this hearing. And I I just want to recognize real quick the tremendous impact that Chairman Smith has had in this realm of human rights, Christian persecution over the decades. Um I I'm a former staff member actually of this committee. I worked on this committee when Chairman Smith was on this committee.
▶ 1:45:34you had a very large impact on me as a staff member and uh to come full circle back around to be on a hearing uh on such an issue that was uh really inspired by Chairman Smith's work here when I was a staff member. Thank you for that.
▶ 1:45:50And uh but [clears throat] I I think one of the things that's and I would say disheartening in this hearing some of the media reporting and frankly some of my colleagues on the other side of the dis here is this misdirection of what is happening. There is a persecution of Christians in Nigeria. The witnesses have made that clear. We heard the bishop speak.
▶ 1:46:19I don't know how many times we have to hear it or how many reports of murdered martyed Christians, my brothers and sisters in Christ in Nigeria. How many times we have to hear that happen to take it seriously? And one of the things that concerns me is that it feels like at times it's echoing an indifference around this and somehow we're going to develop our way out of it through uh developmental programs.
▶ 1:46:49And this indifference sounds like echoes of Rwanda to me where we did nothing on that. And I think as you remember uh quite clearly President Clinton has stated that as one of his largest failures in his administration. President Trump has made a definitive decision to actively engage and stop the killing in Nigeria and I think he deserves a lot of credit for that.
▶ 1:47:19You all have used a word that I think is very apt in this and this is and as chairman Smith uh put it perfectly in his opening statement of this hearing uh when he spoke with the senior officials of Nigerian government is that we do want to work with them. We have the opportunity here. I think the Nigerians have an opportunity to deepen and strengthen their relationship with the United States if they will prioritize the protection of these communities.
▶ 1:47:49Of course, non-Christians are being killed, too. They're not saying that's not happening, but there is a a systematic targeted campaign that's happening here. I met with that same delegation uh same as chairman Smith did and some of the feedback we were getting as a little bit of that same misdirection. But let's not turn a blind eye to what's happening. Let's not believe our lying eyes, right?
▶ 1:48:12Uh one thing I'd want to point out here is we've had religious organizations and advocacy groups have been calling for humanitarian assistance in the Middle Belt region. And my understanding is that the Tanubu administration has not specifically requested it. That's why it's not there. They just have to ask for it and our state department will then provide that assistance to those organizations on the ground.
▶ 1:48:43That is a perfect example of and indifference to what is happening here. So that would be a great to use your department's term confidence building measure on the part of the Tonubu government in this if they are serious about this because I can promise you President Trump is he is very serious about this.
▶ 1:49:03A question that I have for you is the Nigerian constitution prohibits the ownership of firearms, but somehow these fani militants operating in the middle belt of uh region of the country, they're all armed. And we're not talking about ISIS. We're not talking about uh Boka Haram.
▶ 1:49:27Why hasn't there been some type of move or campaign by the Nigerian government to disarm these militants uh that are operating there where we're seeing a lot of this killing that is uh coming from them? They have access to AK-47s and other small arms to slaughter Christians. Is this something that you've been talking to the Nigerian government about? Because I think it would actually have a serious impact and it is something that I I raised with the Nigerian government officials when we met with them. Thank you.
▶ 1:50:01Uh thank you uh Representative Moore and thank you also for your uh service on this uh task force that will be providing recommendations and in your meetings with the Nigerian officials. Appreciate that. Um I I think that this is an excellent suggestion uh as part of the strategy that we are putting together in particular to talk about the policing uh aspect of this uh in what is happening in the middle belt so that we can focus resources and have specific recommendations on actions
▶ 1:50:31that the Nigerian government can take. I very much appreciate that suggestion.
▶ 1:50:35Yeah, it just seems to make all the sense in the world to me. It's like here we are. I mean, I understand we're not going to get like ISIS to lay their arms down. That's probably more of a kinetic option there that's going to result in their arms no longer being uh brought up in u in anger against Christians. But in any event, uh this seems to be something that obviously I'm not saying it's easy, but it is something that they should be doing. They should be looking at.
▶ 1:51:03And while I got just a couple seconds left, I I would urge the Nigerian government to take a look at pardoning Sunday Jackson, who is an individual who was fighting for his own life, defending his life against one of these fani militants. That fani militant lost his life in that struggle. And now that person, Sunday Jackson, is facing the death penalty. And where's the justice in that? Where is the justice in that?
▶ 1:51:32And all these fani militants are breaking the law. They are breaking Nigerian law. And so this Sunday Sunday Jackson disarms this person with a knife, protects his own life. He's going to prison and now faces the death penalty and fali militants just roaming bands of them with AK-47s and that's no problem. You you are so right about this question of prioritization. I know I'm over time, Mr. Chairman, but I appreciate the time.
▶ 1:52:00Thank you so much, Mr. for for your leadership and do appreciate that very much, Mr. Stsman.
▶ 1:52:06Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for your leadership uh on not only this issue, but so many other issues related to uh to life and and to uh religious freedom. Uh I want to thank the the ranking chairman uh as well uh and appreciate the witnesses for being here. You know before I begin I just think it's really important that to recognize that you know what is happening in not in Nigeria it's not unique and that that's why religious freedom really matters.
▶ 1:52:35It it's the core foundation of our constitution. I mean I would argue that you can't have economic freedom if you don't have religious freedom. uh I've been doing some work with the uh the new administration and the changes that are happening in the Middle East and Syria and you know Syria is a very diverse country and it's so critical for them to have religious freedom and respect goes both ways and I think it's really important and I think could have a huge impact
▶ 1:53:06if Christians and Muslims and Jews and you know name all of the the religions if we would all stand together and condemn violence violence. Condemn this sort of violence that's happening in Nigeria. Condemn the violence that's happening in Suea, in Syria, against the Drews and against the Christians and against those that you know would push back. Um this is this I appreciate President Trump who I believe is the strongest diplomat.
▶ 1:53:33He's the strongest negotiator and especially when it comes to religious freedom. uh he's been willing to call it out around the world and uh and so we have this opportunity as Americans to really push the importance of respecting religious freedom and uh and it really being part of the fabric of every country. Uh it's also important for us here at home. I mean you know not only is religious freedom important around the world but it's really important for us here at home.
▶ 1:54:01I the last thing we want to see is uh is threats to religious liberty in uh in the United States. We need to be the example um and rather than uh than just looking at others. I mean we have of course a very strong diverse nation as well. One of the things I want to ask and get to um is we talked a lot about the tools that uh the administration has.
▶ 1:54:26Uh Senator Cruz and I introduced legislation that would redesate Nigeria as a a country of particular concern and again of course very disappointed to see that that was revoked during the Biden administration and uh and the steps back that uh has has caused there. Um, I want to ask, so Daniel Ada is from Benin. He's he's as a candidate for president. I just visited with him. He's a friend of mine.
▶ 1:54:54Uh, I was asking him since Benine is right next door to Nigeria. What are we seeing in the surrounding areas? Are we seeing some of the same uh attacks and atrocities in other countries? And is there any sort of coalition? I know the Nigerian government is acting like this isn't happening, but is there any sort of coalition being led by us or within the region to fight back and to push back? You know, I I appreciate u Mr.
▶ 1:55:20Moore's comments about disarming the, you know, the the jihadists and those who are attacking, but is there any discussion about arming the innocent as well? Is in making sure that they have the ability to defend themselves with their local law enforcement and is local law enforcement working for them? So, couple of questions in there, but I'd be happy to hear from either one of you.
▶ 1:55:44Uh, thank you, Representative. Um the security uh problems, very very serious ones that that exist uh across the lal states of Africa are are common and are shared especially in the north as as we see uh more and more terrorist insurgent action. And so this is a shared problem.
▶ 1:56:09uh we at the state department but especially the department of war and ariccom have focused very heavily on sharing intelligence and trying to create the type of cooperation that you referred to between those uh countries so that they're sharing information using best practices sharing intelligence with each other to to be more effective um in terms of the particular problem that we are discussing today uh this targeted attacks against Christians it is most acute in the middle belt
▶ 1:56:39of Nigeria.
▶ 1:56:40One of the things that we know in the Middle East is is looking at the curriculums that are taught in schools. Um and especially, you know, some of the curriculum that we saw that was being taught in Gaza to the young children about, you know, killing a Jewish soldier is is something worthy of. I mean, do we see this sort of education system at all in these countries? Because what are the young people learning?
▶ 1:57:09Are they learning to be uh pursuing peace and prosperity? Are they also being taught uh anywhere in these schools uh some sort of jihadist activity is is worthy of of
▶ 1:57:24Refer to my colleague from DRL as well since they publish reports on this that cover some of these issues.
▶ 1:57:31Sure. So you'll [clears throat] see in our human rights reports where we call out uh human rights violations across countries around the world. Um in terms of Nigeria's curriculum in particular, I don't have that information right in front of me, but we're happy to report back to you on the committee.
▶ 1:57:43Sure. No, that's fine. I appreciate you both and thank you again, Mr. Chairman, for having this hearing.
▶ 1:57:48Thank you for your questions and comments. Uh we are joined by the former chairman of the Africa Subcommittee who is now over at the Energy and Commerce Committee, John James, and I want to thank him. February of 2024, he had a very important hearing on Nigeria and other advocacy throughout that time. So, floor is yours,
▶ 1:58:06Mr. Chairman. Thank you so much for your personal invitation, for your leadership, and for your friendship. I'm honored to be back. Um, Psalms 96:14 asks, "Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?" Nigeria is facing one of the gravest religious freedom crises in the world.
▶ 1:58:27As the former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Africa, I have visited and have seen firsthand the direess of the conditions in what is now the deadliest place on earth to be a Christian. They are targeted, displaced, and killed simply for their faith. The ancient plea, is there no help for the widow's son? Still echoes today. Since 2019, nearly 17,000 Christians have been killed. In the first seven months of this year alone, hundreds more were murdered.
▶ 1:58:56On June 13th during the Yellow Water Massacre, more than 280 Christians were slaughtered in a single day. These are not isolated tragedies, but a sustained pattern of religiously motivated violence often ignored or even enabled by the Nigerian government. Extremist groups like Boo Haram, fani milit militants, and ISIS West Africa attack often without any meaningful intervention from authorities.
▶ 1:59:23The lack of response has created an atmosphere of impunity where Christians lives where Christians continue to live in constant threat and fear. The United States has previously recognized this crisis. President Trump not only designated Nigeria as a country of particular concern during his first term, but redesated it again in his second term after President Biden inexplicably removed that designation.
▶ 1:59:47Religious persecution is tied to political repression and weakening institutions in Nigeria. Example, the detention of Mazi Namikanu is a clear example. In 2022, Nigeria's court of appeal struck down the charges against him and ordered his release. The UN working group on arbitrary detention has also called for his unconditional release. Yet he remains in solitary confinement in deteriorating health and recently had to represent himself in court.
▶ 2:00:16Nigeria has signaled that the law is optional and targeting Christians is fair game. Just hours ago this morning, despite the pleas and cries of Nigerian people and many Nigerian lawmakers, Mazi Namikanu was convicted on all charges. For fiscal year 2025, the US has requested nearly 8 billion dollars for subsaharan Africa.
▶ 2:00:39But when Americans see political prisoners, judicial defiance, and the slaughter of Christians, they understandably ask they meet their own struggles, why should our tax dollars support governments that refuse to protect their own people? Is our aid aiding a genocide? Nigeria is a nation of tremendous potential. But that potential is being choked out by violent persecution of its Christian population. No country can build a stable future where churches are burned, believers are killed, and communities live in fear.
▶ 2:01:10The United States must stay engaged and Nigeria must change course. Now, Mr. Pratt, a direct question. Do you believe in your professional that the government of Nigeria has been infiltrated by jihadists? I do not believe that the government of Nigeria has been infiltrated by
▶ 2:01:37Okay? Because when you look at the selective enforcement of the rule of law, one might question one might question uh if there are any uh uh favoritism or um looking the other way when uh groups are being uh specifically targeted despite the fact as my colleague Mr. more mentioned not enforcing the uh the rule of law with regard to uh to um um weapons.
▶ 2:02:04Uh my next question, how has the Nigerian government reacted since President Trump's country of particular concern designation announcement?
▶ 2:02:13They have taken the designation very seriously. There is a senior delegation here now. uh they will meet with the most senior officials of of the US government uh this week and we have already demarshed the government in Abuja and here in Washington on the action plan and I can say that the results so far have been positive in terms of cooperation.
▶ 2:02:37The Nigerian government needs to do more to address this issue themselves. But what measures are being taken to assist um Nigeria to increase its focus on persecution particularly in the middle Yeah. So, thank you for your question, Congressman James. As you mentioned, the middle belt is a particular concern. That's where Christians, you mentioned Yalawada, where 250 or 280 Christians were killed, massacred. Um, they were targeted because there were Christians. Um, churches have been burned there. There have been internally displaced people there.
▶ 2:03:07And so, we're reviewing all options at the State Department, including Chairman Smith, you mentioned our bureau, we have global manitz act sanctions. Um we have other tools at our disposal as well um to make sure that Nigeria uh the Nigerian government gets the message that we are serious about the persecution of Christians and other communities as well but particularly Christians right now who are suffering disproportionately in the middle belt.
▶ 2:03:29Thank you for your answer, Mr. Chairman. Thank you um for having me again. God bless you and um good luck. I'm here for
▶ 2:03:35Thank you so very much, Chairman James, and thank you again for your great service. I'd like to um between the ranking member and I, we're both going to ask one more question and then go to our next panel. Um I I would like to yield mine to my good friend Mr. Hosena who asked a very serious question about the IDPs uh in Benway. And um and if there's any answer that you wanted to give and the tyranny of the clock precluded that uh please feel free to do so and then I'll yield to my friend and
▶ 2:04:06Uh thank you Mr. Chairman. I appreciate you yielding uh to me and um I think you saw my passion on this earlier. Um but there are serious issues and and part of that that U interview from Arise TV.
▶ 2:04:22One of the other questions to me was, well, doesn't the CPC damage Nigeria economically in a way that is going to u economic growth and and foreign country companies coming into the country. And my answer to them was actually I think the the the current state of violence is as much a deterrent uh of the of of a foreign c company or a US company coming into Nigeria.
▶ 2:04:53Um and I know the goal of the CPC is to to uh correct behavior. Uh but could you explain a little bit exactly what uh you would expect to see out of a out of a CPC and what sort of changes it might bring?
▶ 2:05:08And then I want to address the 1.4 million who are considered the the internally displaced people IDPs uh in Benway and what the uh what the game plan would be to provide the IDPs in Benway and and uh Taba um what what sort of assistance they can depend on from the US.
▶ 2:05:32Thank you very much representative. Um this CPC designation uh we hope will focus the energy of the government of Nigeria uh as as well as our own government here on all of the tools that we have available.
▶ 2:05:48And so by setting up this task force that I referred to and looking at all of the types of assistance that we can bring to bear, but more importantly what the government of Nigeria can do to to own this problem uh and improve security for all Nigerians, but in particular tackle this this problem that we're talking about.
▶ 2:06:07But they have to admit there's a problem first. Right. Okay. And [snorts] and I think that's been one of my concerns is I have not seen an actual admission to this being a problem. It's it's been given excuses and veneers of a lot of other issues that get pared uh both here and in the media. Um can you uh can you uh talk about the uh the displaced persons and the help that they could be
▶ 2:06:34on displaced persons? We do have programs that uh address this and we want to make that part of the action plan that we are working on. My colleague from DRL may want to provide more in particular uh on on IDPs.
▶ 2:06:51Sure. As um Ambassador Pratt just mentioned the state department is reviewing options to help IDPs. Um you mentioned what actions we want to see from the from the Nigerian government. That includes as we've mentioned here several times prosecutions of perpetrators. That includes reduced violence in the middle belt. That
▶ 2:07:07against against all
▶ 2:07:08against all Christians, moderate Muslims, anybody who is who is not uh being targeted. Right.
▶ 2:07:16Exactly. Right. So the Trump administration stands firmly for the principle that relig religious freedom is for all religious communities and those who don't practice a faith. It is a per se good and we're committed to helping protect communities all around the world who are experiencing religious persecution. Not just in Nigeria, not just Christians. At the end of the day, we want the number to be zero in Nigeria. We don't want any religious persecution to happen. We don't want it to just be a reduction in violence.
▶ 2:07:44We we want there to be zero people who are murdered because of their faith.
▶ 2:07:48Amen to that. Um corruption continues to undermine Nigeria's institutions, um including those tasked with protecting civilians. Sometimes I've heard from some of these instances and conversations I've had with religious leaders in Nigeria who don't feel that the Nigerian government is equipped to respond to the crisis. How does corruption within the security forces hinder the government's ability to prevent and respond effectively to religiously motivated violence?
▶ 2:08:17I mean corruption is a major problem globally uh and and in Africa and in in Nigeria. I think it that it erodess uh capability, right? it it it erodess the the confidence of of the forces especially at the working level if they see that their superiors are engaged in corruption that totally undermines the whole uh the whole enterprise
▶ 2:08:39and I assume that that is part of state departments and this administration's action plan that they want to see out of the Nigerian government the tonubu government is uh is a crackdown on
▶ 2:08:51to be more effective absolutely
▶ 2:08:53all right thank you time is expired I appreciate the opportunity Mr. chairman. Thank you, John.
▶ 2:08:57Thank you very much, Mr. Jacobs.
▶ 2:08:59Thank you. I yield to Miss Jipal.
▶ 2:09:01Thanking Thank you so much, Ranking Member uh Jacobs for yielding. Um I think this has actually been a good discussion on this committee and an important one around what strategy we use to eliminate violence against any community. And I think the issue for me is that if you define the problem as people being attacked only because of their religion, that would lead you to one set of solutions.
▶ 2:09:28If you define the problem as people being attacked for other reasons, it would lead you to a different set of conclusions and strategies. And I think Ambassador Pratt, uh, I resonated when you said we have lots of tools in the toolbox.
▶ 2:09:43One of those tools is um just around the kind of assistance we give to efforts that are crossfaith, interfaith, cross-cultural, building the kinds of ties that we need to build because I don't think that I think this is not a religious uh oppression Olympics. We're not trying to say one religion is is worse oppressed than another.
▶ 2:10:07were saying, how do we get to that ending point that we all agree on that there shouldn't be violence against any of these communities? And so, I guess I want to ask you about programming that specifically promotes interfaith or cross-cultural dialogue. Um the foreign assistance review that was conducted earlier this year actually cut this administration cut many of those types of programs and there are suggestions that there's going to be even more cuts that focus on these kinds of programs.
▶ 2:10:37Um, one of the ones I was looking at very carefully that I know is Nigerian youth care and that's one that provided Nigerian youth with mentorship and training on how to bridge religious and cultural divides. Given the administration's concerns about religious conflict and some of the shared goals we've articulated, can you explain why that contract was canled?
▶ 2:11:00Thank you for your question, Representative. So there is ongoing programming in Nigeria that addresses some of the issues that you've uh you've you've raised. Our early warning early response programs for instance also have kind of an interfaith dialogue uh built into them. We've seen great success about from from people who have experienced the program saying that they have increased you know they've seen greater tolerance amongst their communities etc etc. So we have effective programming. Um broadly in terms of foreign assistance the Trump administration is reviewing every foreign assistance dollar not to cut but to make it more effective.
▶ 2:11:30We've rep prioritized, we've reshaped foreign assistance in a way um not to eliminate foreign assistance, but to make it more strategic. The United States has been the most generous partner around the world of any country for foreign assistance. Secretary Rubio has said we will continue to be the most generous uh country. So, I'm happy to share some of the programming success we've seen um and get back to you on those answers. I
▶ 2:11:49I would appreciate that. And if you can look into this one in particular and I might send you a few others because I think that if you if you say that you're only going to focus on a particular kind of program and you say some of these things are not effective. You know, my work overseas in all of these countries says that some of this work takes time to develop the kind of leadership that is not going to be divided uh down the road.
▶ 2:12:15And and so it may not have the same metrics of success uh immediately that you see, but I think many of these programs really do prove to be extremely important in the long term. And so I I just would like to know um you know what is the status of each of those US funded programs related to religious tolerance. If you could share a list with of that with me I would really appreciate it.
▶ 2:12:40And what new assistance programs should we expect that the administration maybe you can speak to this part that the administration is going to promote? Um that's the second part of the question. And then the third part of the question for you is um I am concerned about some of the reports I'm hearing that um certain programs are just going to be cut because they focus on particular communities or they you know are framed in a way that somehow uh is is part of a a you know some
▶ 2:13:10sham DEI initiative and so maybe you could speak to those last two and get me the list of the first
▶ 2:13:17Sure. I'm happy to follow up with the committee on specific program we have across Africa. Um the administration is committed to using its foreign assistance effectively and strategically and gets the most bang for its buck for American taxpayers because ultimately we're responsible to the American taxpayers. So in terms of programming, I'm happy to get you the specific answers that you're looking for. Um in terms of the other questions you raised about specific communities being um having greater assistance or I forget how you phrased it. Um more targeted programs. We want religious freedom for all communities.
▶ 2:13:47Full stop. We don't want religious freedom for some communities. We want religious freedom for all religious communities, including those who don't practice faith. We think it's a violation of a moral law that somebody is killed because of their faith. We see that happening in all parts of the world and the Trump administration is committed to helping countries take ownership of the of their own their own own issues and actually go after people who who prose or persecute Christians and Muslims and people of all faiths and actually shift the responsibility to where we want to help partner with these countries.
▶ 2:14:17But at the end of the day, the countries themselves have an an obligation to protect religious freedom in their countries and
▶ 2:14:23I I agree with you um on what you said. I just would say I'd like to see the data that that um backs up what you're saying and and why certain programs that seem very much in line with what you're saying are being cancelled. So I appreciate your attention to this and we'll follow up. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh thank you, ranking member.
▶ 2:14:41And thank you thank you both for your testimonies, but above all for your leadership. It's extraordinary. And um so thank you. And we'll move on to our second panel. Thank you. I'd like to now welcome to the witness and we will show a very short video uh that was just taped yesterday uh from Mrs.
▶ 2:15:08Akpern Apen I should say a survivor of the yellow massacre. She lost five of her children uh and is just one example of the incredible heartbreak uh of being slaughtered uh because she's a Christian because her family was a Christian. And that'll be showing in in one second. But if our witnesses could come to the
▶ 2:16:19Okay. Uh we'll come back to the video in a minute. Let me introduce our distinguished witnesses, beginning with Nina Sheay, a senior fellow and director at the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute. Miss Sheay has been a human rights lawyer for over 30 years. She works extensively for the advancement of individual religious freedom and other human rights and US foreign policy as it confronts an ascendant Islamic extremism that we're seeing in in in Nigeria for example.
▶ 2:16:48And I want to thank her for her leadership. She has testified before and her her wisdom has been greatly esteemed by this committee and particularly by this chairman. We'll then hear from Oay uh Anand Buga Bugu. Is that correct? Thank you.
▶ 2:17:06Uh who is a director a is director and senior fellow of the Africa program and CSIS and the foreign policy leader uh with two decades of experiencing shaping policy and engagement in on Africa and US Africa relations. Most recently, she served as director of the Africa program at the Wilson Center, where she led research and programs that centered u African knowledge and agency in developing actionable strategies to address critical issues facing Africa and the US uh relations.
▶ 2:17:36I would like to yield now such time as she may consume and then to you uh as well to our witnesses. Nina Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Ranking Member Jacobs, and members of the committee for holding this very important hearing.
▶ 2:18:04The debate about CPC designation for Nigeria uh began in earnest in Washington last spring after you, Mr. chairman had introduced a resolution that urged CPC designation for Nigeria as you had previously done in 22 and when this subcommittee held a pivotal hearing on the case for Nigeria CPC designation last March.
▶ 2:18:31Thankfully, President Trump uh listened and uh he made his decision based on two criteria. one under the international religious freedom act um that these were severe violations of religious freedom and that the two the government of Nigeria President Tanibu was either actively engaged or tolerating these violations those are
▶ 2:19:01the criteria of the earth act so Nigeria's multifaceted terror problem that has had A devastating impact on both Muslims and Christians alike is well known, but the long overlooked persecution of Nigeria's middlebell Christians by fani jihadi militias finally got Washington's attention uh when that March hearing was held and Bishop Anaagbay testified.
▶ 2:19:30The bishop gave startling firsthand testimony that described frequent raids on farmlands of his mccertie dascese by armed fani Muslim herders who kill rape or kid kidnap residents all the while shouting the jihadi battlecry alahu akbar bishop anogby who testified today as well and I'm honored to be um part of this hearing with him um related that 20 parishes in his dascese have been shut down because of these attacks moreover he said
▶ 2:20:01Nigeria's government was doing nothing to stop this. Um, I agreed in my testimony then that Nigeria should be designated a CPC precisely because the relentless and systematic fani attacks targeting middle belt Christians are carried out with complete government impunity. By contrast, the government is fighting the terror groups in the north. So this is really key to understanding why CPC is warranted in this case.
▶ 2:20:31The bishop's frank testimony required heroic courage. He soon began receiving death threats. A few weeks later, fani militants attacked his home village and massacred 12 of his relatives and scores of others. The priest directing his justice and peace office who took the body counts and came to the aid of survivors in such attacks has and did so then has been forced to take temporary leave after credible threats to his Um Mr.
▶ 2:21:01Chairman and White House uh Mr. Chairman you and White House officials who had met with Bishop Enogi uh were appalled when you heard of this. The attack was part of the brutal pattern seen in hard-h hit Benway and various other middle belt states. But it also raised the concern that this attack was in reprisal for his testimony to Congress. One organized not simply by nomadic herders, but by those in Nigeria who are close observers of Washington.
▶ 2:21:29Two weeks after that incident, Yalawada, which is, by the way, only five miles from the state capital mu uh of McCertie, that's Benway State, was hit by a large fani raid. We've uh other others have spoken about that. Um 200 over 270 Christians were murdered.
▶ 2:21:49Um and the victims included some who had been displaced from their hometowns by prior fani raids and had sought refuge in Yalawada because it's a milit there's a military uh garrison there. The Nigerian troops there did not put up a fight against the dozens of and it was only dozens of fani attackers who swarmed in on motorcycles and some on foot wielding assault rifles and machetes as their weapons. Uh this has been going on for years again with government impunity.
▶ 2:22:19Similar attacks are taking place elsewhere in the middle belt. To give one recent example, Catholic priest Father George Dogo told the outlet outlet Truth Nigeria who is directed by which is directed by former State Department official Douglas Burton that uh 10 days ago in Taba 11 uh uh sorry fani militants stormed through uh a local government area indiscriminately killing 20 people and burning and damaging homes
▶ 2:22:49and churches. A survivor, Christristiana Joseph, a 33-year-old farmer from Amadu village, told Truth Nigeria that as she was preparing to go to early morning mass, a fan militia arrived on motorcycles and shot into her house. She is quoted stating, "They fired for about five minutes shouting Allahu Akbar.
▶ 2:23:09When the gunfire stopped, I went inside and found my husband of 14 years, John Joseph, already dead." Survivor Samson Haruna also stated uh that attackers on motorcycles with AK assault rifles strafed houses in his neighboring village. He said, "My neighbors David Bawa and Titus Gregory lost five family members between them.
▶ 2:23:32My house was riddled with bullets." According to the Truth Nigeria report on this Taba attack, quote, "The fani militants that attacked were led by warlord Al-Haj al-Haji Tukor." According to community leader USA, Wakori Dascese Bishop Mark Nuzukin called the crisis overwhelming and said that 335 Catholics churches have been destroyed and more than 300,000 Catholics there have been displaced
▶ 2:24:03beginning in 2015. That's just in his dascese. According to um the head of a local security consultancy, fani militants plan and stage their attacks from an abandoned resort now overgrown with vegetation called Danjuma Farm that the fani use as a cover for cattle grazing. He said that's the head of this security agency. But that's just a smokeokc screen.
▶ 2:24:31and he commented that if the government wants to stop the attacks, they must clear out the terrorists from from Denjuma farms. In daily post Nigeria article, Reverend John Leel, the director of social communications for the Wakuri Dascese, that's the same dascese we're talking I've been talking about, described the situation as devastating, revealing that many rural parishes have been abandoned following sustained assaults that have claimed multiple lives and destroyed entire villages.
▶ 2:25:02Bishop Nukquain told the respected ACI Africa outlet last year that quote, "If peace is restored, the region's rich agricultural landscape could provide a prosperous future for its residents. Instead, he said, there is food scarcity because of these constant attacks." And there are constant countless reports like this across the middle belt. I mentioned this one because it shows that Abuja has failed to act even when the fani aggressors are identified.
▶ 2:25:31and their base from which they launch repeated attacks are known. This represents not only a horrifying pattern of severe persecution by fanis targeting largely Christian areas but also a shocking pattern of government tolerance of this persecution. I want to give one last example from Plateau State that occurred a month ago.
▶ 2:25:52The Reverend Ezekiel Demo of Plateau, who is the regional chairman of the Church of Christ in Nations, told journalist and Jos on October 24 that Islamic extremists have threatened to murder him from calling on the Nigerian and US governments to help protect Christians against genocide. He told the Christian outlet Morning Star News, quote, "My life is in grave danger. Even as I speak, I am on the lookout for attacks. I no longer sleep with my eyes closed.
▶ 2:26:23I have been attacked before but The threats came after he appeared in a video on October 15 standing in a mass grave containing the remains of do a dozen slain church members reportedly killed by fani herders. And Mr.
▶ 2:26:39Chairman, there have been hundreds of priests and pastors killed in the last 15 years uh targeted uh not as the State Department reports um that they've that they were walking alone or unguarded on on a road at night, but they've been attacked and killed in their rectories, homes, and inside their churches as the Nigeria government issues denials and watches passively with no fanis prosecuted.
▶ 2:27:08And no Nigerian forces prepared to defend the vulnerable. The Christian death toll from fani militia attacks alone, leaving aside the terror attacks from Bokh Haram and ISWAP and the others is in the thousands and Christian survivors and displacement camps number in the millions. The respected research group Open Doors cites Nigeria is now the world's uh most dangerous country for Christians because of their religion.
▶ 2:27:32Again, at this time, most Nigerian Christians are being murdered by fani militias and and they are um the militia's special target. Age of the church in need reported last month, quote, and this is a Pontipical Foundation that says this uh Nigerian Christians in the middle belt are bearing the brunt of violent attacks from those identified as fani militants.
▶ 2:27:58Some insist that the violent aggression by the fani herders against the Christian farmers on their own land is the unavoidable result of climate change. The state department religious freedom reports have annually described these indiscriminate mass killings as clashes between two socioeconomic groups who fight over scarce resources brought on by climate change. Religion has nothing to do with it. They claim this justification of fani violence has recently shifted.
▶ 2:28:28Now it is generally acknowledged that Christians are being murdered in cold blood but is being argued that more Muslims are killed in the violence and this proves it has nothing to do with religion. They say this argument is not factual and it is irrelevant for CPC. The premise that more Muslims and Christians are killed is debatable as the scholarly OBS observatory for religious freedom in Africa documents.
▶ 2:28:52In any case, most Nigerian Muslims live in the north where Boka Haram and a plethora of ISIS and al-Qaeda linked Islamic terrorist groups attack them and them and non-Muslims alike. And this violence too is religiously based. However, significant for CPC criteria, the Nigerian military is actively fighting those terror groups in the north.
▶ 2:29:16By contrast, in the middle belt, where most of the Christians are being killed in recent years and where Christians are the special target of fani herder militias, the government isn't lifting a finger against the fani militants. Instead, it is tolerating them and denying it is happening. I have also heard about sporadic Christian attacks on Muslim villages. To the extent that the government is not taking action in those cases, that is further reason for CPC designation.
▶ 2:29:45Political momentum to list Nigeria among the world's worst persecutors gained throughout October as the annual CPC review near the year-end deadline and reports of massacres kept coming. On October 21, the Pontipical Foundation, aid to the church in need, issued its world survey that reported, quote, "The number and ferocity of the attacks on Christian villages in the Middle Belt have led some experts to conclude that these incursions are a deliberate land grab to remove Christians
▶ 2:30:15and Islamize the region." End of quote. Various high level white house officials in the state department were also hearing from groups of religious freedom activists on Nigeria. Later that week, President Trump made the CPC designation. For the first time, the issue of fani militias targeting Christians for mass murder received official US acknowledge acknowledgement.
▶ 2:30:40um when sen secretary Rubio um uh addressed this this in turn got the attention of Nigeria's president Tonuba who said he is willing to work with the US until now he has not shown the political will to stop this fani violence CPC as you know is a two-step process the next step in this in this process requires the president to do adopt a policy response and we heard today from uh the state department about what is being considered And
▶ 2:31:10there are several actions that I um also endorse. One is to um it's been raised before by representative Moore and it's my first recommendation. Disarm fani herders. Uh these militias are loosely organized. They don't have explosives or drones. Don't use tunnels, suicide vests or propaganda films.
▶ 2:31:31They they are an unsophisticated but nevertheless lethal force because they come armed with AK-47s and 49s while their targets have only homemade pipe bombs to defend uh pipe sorry pipe guns to defend themselves with assault rifles such as those used by the fanis are heavily regulated by Nigeria's firearms act and illegal for the targeted Christian farming villages.
▶ 2:31:58They uh the the act um specifically only allows um homemade d what are called dane guns um cap guns and muzzle um another muzzle loading guns. The act thus outlaws the firearms that would match the assault rifle firepower of fani militias and leaves the peaceful Christian communities essentially defenseless.
▶ 2:32:23President Tonubu should order the removal of fani heavy weapons, raiding their encampments at Danjuma farm in Taraba and other places. In the process, he should direct the um powerful cattle breeders association such as such as the Mietti cattle breeders association to cooperate in doing this. Uh two uh fortifying targeted areas. So, US foreign aid in Nigeria in recent years has amounted to about a billion dollars annually.
▶ 2:32:53Um, areas targeted by these fan militias should receive some of this aid to securely return home and reclaim their properties, rebuild and defend themselves. For, for example, this aid could could go toward intelligence sharing, the training and equipping of local private security guards as well as other measures.
▶ 2:33:14The again the fani militias are not the formidable foe seen in ISIS and al-Qaeda and their attacks could be prevented uh relatively easily prevented and defended against by these basic measures. Um humanitarian aid is important um and this should be uh for the victims of fani herder militia attacks and they should and this should be distributed through trusted local providers including through the churches on the ground that are currently one of the main aid providers to the survivors of these attacks.
▶ 2:33:44Um and it's um it's just again tragic and ironic that productive farmers now need food aid since they have been driven from their middle belt farms. Four, sanctions against those aiding, embedding and granting impunity to the fani herd and militias including um those sanctions should include high level officials in the criminal justice system and the military.
▶ 2:34:08The US should gather intelligence regarding official responses to the fani herder militias and review possible visa and magnitki sanctions for those aiding embedding. Um the uh fani warlord's names are are known or knowable. Um out of all the uh I think it's important to understand that out of all the violent attacks by fani herder militias there have been only a few arrests.
▶ 2:34:36Um uh and um one involved the prosecution of a fani herder who was convicted of throwing melons at a melon company who received a 10-year sentence. It shows the government can get tough when it wants to. And two high pro high-profile legal cases of violent attacks on Christians have seen movement in recent months. Once concerns the Catholic Church of St.
▶ 2:35:01Francis Denondo where a terrorist killed some 40 worshippers on Pentecost Sunday in 2022. Depositions are being taken in that case. And bishop recently told me, but the trial has not yet started. It's important to note that's not in the middle belts in the south. The five suspects being held are said to be part of the East African Shabbab terror group and are not members of the fan herder militia.
▶ 2:35:25The other case involves the yellow water massacre itself where charges are filed uh have been filed against five fani herders in September and an extremely rare example of prosecution that I believe is attributable to the pressure raised by the CPC debate in Washington.
▶ 2:35:43Finally, um the um the international religious freedom act calls uh suggests as a possible policy response to CPC a binding agreement with the country to prevent um further violence. So I think that that is something that should be considered as well. Um and um unfortunately President Tonubu hasn't shown the political well.
▶ 2:36:12so far to direct the police and military action within his power and he argues that because the police force is force is centralized under the constitution he is overwhelmed. He says that a constitutional amendment is required to give back policing power to the governors of the state and that could take years. However, right now there exists legal ways he can shore up defenses within the targeted Christian areas.
▶ 2:36:38for example, decentralizing police commands internally or empowering local guards or deploying more mobile police units to states and prioritizing referrals of state governor police orders for presidential review. So I I suggest that the US enter into a binding agreement with Nigeria to ensure this needed uh police pre protection against the fani militias.
▶ 2:37:02Um and uh since President Trump's CPC designation, I note some Nigerian officials, including generals of a force in the southern state of Ando, who cite worries about securing Nigeria's wide openen border, already asked for US partnership in an effort to help to quote help flush out fani ethnic militia terrorists from the southwest. Thank you,
▶ 2:37:24Mich. [clears throat] Thank you so very much for that very u wellthoughtout testimony. I mean, you have so much in there. We'll I'll go back and read it to to pull out much of what you have just conveyed to the committee. So, thank you for that. And uh I'd like now recognize our next witness, Miss Honaboo.
▶ 2:37:47Thank you very much, uh Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Jacobs, distinguished members of the committee. I'm honored to share my views before this committee today. Just want to state that CSIS does not take policy positions. So the views represented in this testimony are my own and not those and not not those of my In this testimony, I would like to reinforce the recommendations that I made before this committee in March.
▶ 2:38:14In addition, I would like to reflect on how this tenuous moment in US Nigeria relations provide an opportunity for both countries to work together to address the critical threats of jihadist violence and insecurity in Nigeria and to develop a more strategic partnership. The United States and Nigeria have a complicated bilateral relationship with shared interest in counterterrorism and economic development.
▶ 2:38:43But this relationship is often marked by periods of friction. Nigeria wields significant continental and regional influence but grapples with violent extremism and internal security. Nigeria's leadership in West Africa is crucial and its ability to address its governance and security challenges will impact not only its future but the wider Nigeria's instability stems from a key shortcoming.
▶ 2:39:11Despite 64 years of independence, it has yet to establish a national identity grounded in basic freedoms and dignity. Currently, ethnicity, religion, and language rather than nationality define the identity of its diverse population. Understanding the violence in Nigeria requires looking beyond its apparent religious and ethnic motivations.
▶ 2:39:38For me, growing up in just plateau state, I've witnessed the impacts of these ongoing conflicts on vibrant In addition, coming from a family involved in Christian missionary work, I recognize the shared faith between Christian communities in Nigeria's middle belt and those in the US rooted in the history of American missionary However, a narrow narrative that reduces Nigeria's security situation to a
▶ 2:40:08single story and frames it solely as the persecution of Christians oversimplifies the issue. Religious and ethnic violence is driven more by governance failures and is worsened by hate speech and conspiracy theories rather than being just a singular conflict.
▶ 2:40:28Nigeria is facing multiple security crisis due to religious extremism, banditry, criminality, resource competition, communial disputes, and separatist agitation. These issues are intertwined with history, poverty, and political The interplay between religion and politics in Nigeria is deep and complex.
▶ 2:40:55Leaders often romanticize the country's unity but fail to foster it. As we saw in the divisive 2023 elections, as Nigeria approaches another national election in 2027, religion will once again continue to influence candidate selection, voter behavior, and campaign strategies.
▶ 2:41:17The Trump administration's claims that Nigeria is permitting targeted killings of Christians distracts from the broader issue of extremist violence and insecurity in the country. Since returning to civilian rule in 1999, Nigeria has been a major recipient of US security assistance primarily aimed at Despite this significant assistance, the extremist threat in Nigeria has worsened.
▶ 2:41:46expanding from the northeast where Boohh Haram has waged a 15-year insurgency to the northwest where so-called bandits are raiding villages. Most victims in both of these regions are Muslims. Since Boohh Haram's emergence in 2009, Nigerian administrations, including the administration of President Tinubu, have struggled to improve security.
▶ 2:42:12And many Nigerians across the country acknowledge that the situation has only worsened in recent years. Therefore, narratives focusing solely on the killing of Christians often overlook Nigeria's broader insecurity and the fact that religion is usually a secondary factor in the violence. Recent violence in the middle belt predominantly affects Christian farming communities from various ethnic groups.
▶ 2:42:43Victims are mostly believed to be killed by fani herders who are primarily But the killings aren't explicitly motivated by religious reasons.
▶ 2:42:57While some community members actually describe the violence in their communities as genocidal, they often emphasize that the underlying causes are ethnic and material, such as land grabs rather than on religious differences alone. Nevertheless, the high level of insecurity across Nigeria has left many religious communities, including Christians, at risk.
▶ 2:43:25The failure to hold the perpetrators of these violent acts accountable has created both a sense of impunity among the attackers and a sense of grieviance in the affected Nigerian citizens have mixed reactions to the US redesation of Nigeria as a country of particular concern. Many particular Christian groups welcome the attention seeing it as a chance to push the Nigerian government to act against the violence.
▶ 2:43:54However, there are also concerns among many Nigerians, including Christians, that the that President that President Trump's threats of military action could also exacerbate existing political tensions.
▶ 2:44:09Public opinion surveys overall in Nigeria indicate a public consensus on the seriousness of the security challenges in the country with many Nigerians valuing their their diverse communities and believing in shared national unity over divisions. Now allow me to offer some concrete First to the United States government, it's important to engage deeply and broadly with communities across Nigeria.
▶ 2:44:38The US can play a constructive role, but it must avoid selective intervention and address the concerns of all Nigerians across all re religions to prevent worsening sectarian divisions. Two, it's important to rethink reactive quickwin actions that may seem beneficial to Nigerians but could have larger and far-reaching negative impacts.
▶ 2:45:03If the Trump administration proceeds with unilateral military action in Nigeria, it could endanger the Christians it aims to protect and worsens divisions along religious lines. Third, prioritize security governance to help tackle the violence. The US should reassess its security cooperation with Nigeria, focusing on building a program that prioritizes security governance and ties military support to tangible reforms.
▶ 2:45:34This renewed partnership should extend beyond military aid to include intelligence sharing, rule of law, and governance. Four, support local actors that are advancing inclusive peace and conflict resolution. Supporting moderate religious leaders and community networks in developing early warning systems can shift the focus from identity based conflict to sustainable solutions. Five, work more with Nigeria states and its growing city centers.
▶ 2:46:04The US government should decentralize its engagement with Nigeria by strengthening dialogue and support for receptive leaders at state and local levels, particularly in the middle belt, which is home to about 45 million people. The focus should be on local security to foster a safe environment for agriculture and manufacturing.
▶ 2:46:24This approach should integrate economic development with sustainable peace by addressing root causes of the conflict through economic revitalization, institutional reform and business Finally, for the US government, it is important to revive the US Congressional Bipartisan Caucus on Nigeria. The US relationship with Nigeria is a key strategic partnership in Africa.
▶ 2:46:51An active bipartisan congressional caucus will highlight this importance, foster discussions, and provide a platform for diverse perspectives to better inform legislative responses on various issues. Now, recommendations for the Nigerian government. It is important to appoint a Nigerian ambassador to the United States to improve its international engagement and manage narratives about its security realities.
▶ 2:47:21It's critical for President Tinubu to appoint a capable Nigerian ambassador to the US as I also recommended in my testimony in March. Second, the Nigerian government needs to make accountability of both perpetrators and of the authorities central to the response. Nigerian citizens need justice.
▶ 2:47:45As criminality in the middle belt has increased due to impunity, the narrative of Christian genocide has gained traction because of years of mass killings without accountability, leaving many faith communities feeling Third, Nigerian government needs to get serious about police reform. Nigeria's single federalized police force struggles to address the country's complex security challenges.
▶ 2:48:13The Tininoa administration needs to accelerate initiatives to improve citizen security, including the recruitment of 30,000 new police personnel. He approved in June. The military in Nigeria is overextended. Many of them are handling duties that should be handled by the police.
▶ 2:48:34And it's essential to think about how the country reassigns police officers that are currently providing personal security to wealthy elites to focus more on the serious crimes. Next, coordinate federal and state action and messaging. Effective coordination so desperately needed among Nigeria's federal and state governments is often undermined by fingerpointing and this must stop.
▶ 2:49:03Finally, for the Nigerian government, it's important to start laying the groundwork for peaceful elections in 2027. Nigeria must address the use of religion as a trigger for electoral violence. The new leadership in its election commission presents a chance to restore public trust in the electoral system, promote responsible political behavior, and strengthen security and judicial The violence in Nigeria has resulted in significant loss of life.
▶ 2:49:32However, addressing the country's complex security issues solely in religious terms and focusing on one group of victims is counterproductive. A fresh approach is needed both for Nigeria and the United States. Nigeria must tackle its institutional weaknesses in security, justice, and conflict prevention to effectively end the violence and hold perpetrators accountable.
▶ 2:49:59The US should engage in open dialogue and cooperation, fostering a better understanding of Nigeria's complexities. Both countries can leverage current diplomatic tensions to strengthen their bilateral relationship and collaboratively address the wider threats of jihadist violence in Nigeria and the surrounding West Africa and Sahel region as both nations have vital interests at stake. Thank you again for inviting me to testify and I welcome your questions.
▶ 2:50:29Thank you so very much for your testimony. Uh we do have a video I'd like to show. Um this is of Ms. Mrs. Apen, a survivor of the Yalwada massacre. She lost five of her children. The baby in her hands is her one remaining child.
▶ 2:50:46But she and so many others who were slaughtered that day, her family, the we hear from them, we hear from her, the priest in the picture uh that the horror is the PTSD from that is just unthinkable and u so I just want to uh it's a very short but very powerful video.
▶ 2:51:09Good afternoon, good evening. It depends on where you're watching us from. I am Reverend Father Philip Apple, the coordinator of the Foundation for Justice Development and Peace, FJDP of the Catholic Dasis of Maki, Bedway State here in Nigeria.
▶ 2:51:26I am here with one of the survivors of the Yieldwater massacre of 13th of June 2025 here in Nigeria where we lost over 200 lives in a single night. So she is here to be witness as one of the survivors of that grave attack. So we listen to her.
▶ 2:52:02that her name is Msushima Aquen.
▶ 2:52:12That when they went into sleep that fateful night around 900 p.m., the fani terrorists attacked them where they were that they were locked inside the camp al water and they were butchering them with cut lasses and shooting guns as well.
▶ 2:52:50When they thought all had finished at some point in time, they pour petrol on the building and they most of the majority of them were set at least.
▶ 2:53:15that in the course of this action she saw a tree up uh when she lifted off her eyes and she raised her hands head on a tree climbed up where she was able to to heat herself.
▶ 2:53:40That her five children that she left below were crying. And in her presence they were being slaughtered by the
▶ 2:53:59That she ran out into the bush at some point and those who came for rescue would now bring her out of that place at some point and she was able to witness the whole drama. And when the people came, they were now relocated to a new camp. So, thank you very much.
▶ 2:54:27This is the much we can receive from Aquin. God bless you.
▶ 2:54:33Thank you very much. And I we now go to questions. Um, let me just um ask on one of my trips to Nigeria, I did visit the Fusion Center, which there was a great deal of cooperation beginning and I mentioned that our our ambassador uh Mike Waltz to the United Nations was actually deployed there uh as a Green Beret and part of a special forces training component.
▶ 2:54:57Um there was there was a great hesitancy on the part of our government uh to engage that to the degree that would really make a difference. And I'll tell you what they told me. They said that they were worried about the uh applying the Ley law so that we do not fund or train human rights uh violators.
▶ 2:55:19So believing that I I actually asked um I had a hearing and Ed Royce did a hearing on the full committee and we asked the under [clears throat] secretary of state under the Obama administration who how many Nigerians could be trained and she said matter of factly half we don't need half but [clears throat] a large number half would be of that could be trained in counterinsurgency. They wanted night vision goggles.
▶ 2:55:46They wanted intel to track down um you know Boo Haram and these other then emerging uh groups, ISIS West Africa for example. Uh and it never really materialized the way it could have.
▶ 2:56:00Now, one of the hopes I have and we hope many of us have coming out of this will be that there will be a renewed effort uh to again support human rights trained people, men and women who are not accused and certainly um that is a very difficult thing to prove one way or the other.
▶ 2:56:21the lei law is very hard to implement and I sat through an actual session with a foreign service officer in Abuja as he went through names and just to get a sense of uh how robust the effort is uh very very hard to do but again so many can be trained and I think what we are hoping will come out of this in addition to a whole lot of other things uh is a very highly trained counterinsurgency force that will take it to Boker Haram the fani terrorists and others U
▶ 2:56:51I note that just um today there's a report that just came out uh that the president is not going to a G20 meeting uh and he's deploying additional um people to a place where there were killings uh in Kawara and and uh I hope they're realizing we're not kidding in the United States. The president of the United States is absolutely committed to this. Marco Rubio is as well and right on down.
▶ 2:57:20Um and and what are we doing? We want to help, as I said earlier, those who are at risk, those who are dying, those like that wonderful woman we just saw a moment ago who lost five of her children. Uh we don't want that to happen anymore. And you know, I do believe that the art of the possible when you have a will, when you have a focus, you can have great achievements uh for peace. And that's the hope here.
▶ 2:57:45So my you know last night and I know that my colleagues uh also had meetings with this high level delegation uh and ours went for almost two hours and I said think of this think of us as partners you know yes we do have the ability to levy sanctions and um you may not like it but we're doing it because we care about the people in your country that are being slaughtered uh both Christians and Muslims.
▶ 2:58:10So I um your thoughts on really getting this this cooperation off the ground. uh you know the when I was there I talked to a lot of people and and I followed up once I got here and they had all these recommendations only a few if any were ever carried forward with uh and that's unfortunate some were uh but I think a toptobottom review of what could be done what does it take uh and then meanwhile on the humanitarian side and
▶ 2:58:40we asked this last night and Mr. Rosena asked this as well of our two witnesses from the administration. You know, the government really needs to do more for its IDPs. It has not. Uh but we want to be helpful there, too. You know, making sure that food, medicine, shelter is available to them. So, um the IDP camps that I've been in were awful.
▶ 2:59:04Uh one was an old hotel that was just, you know, makeshift turned into a into an IDP and that was probably one of the better ones. So your thoughts on that on really helping Nigeria to help themselves?
▶ 2:59:21Um well I think that uh that is important. That's the way to get this to tackle this problem once and for all. Um and um I think that President Trump has instilled um at least some political will on behalf of the government to uh within the government of Nigeria to take some action and it's absolutely essential um to do this both because religious freedom is a pillar
▶ 2:59:52of US foreign policy um it's in compliance with the international religious freedom act which requires the president to review every c every foreign country to decide whether or not to designate uh it as a CPC and that annually and the year is ending So, it was appropriate that President Trump do that again.
▶ 3:00:14Um, it's going to help um alleviate just unfathomable human suffering as we've seen in that mother's eyes today. Um, to um halt Nigeria's descent into failed state status or um an invert possible civil war.
▶ 3:00:35Yeah. um and to not to deepen um [clears throat] the spread of terror across West Africa, it's absolutely essential that Nigeria uh government start um engaging in in the security of its own people. And again, there has been um some willingness, political will to fight the terror groups in the north.
▶ 3:00:59Um but there hasn't been any prosecution so far successful prosecution of any uh one from the fani militias at all. So um I think that that's
▶ 3:01:13just that again for emphasis there has not been
▶ 3:01:17with the fani militi's
▶ 3:01:19efforts to
▶ 3:01:20so that so there hasn't been so that and then that is I think more of a police work um and uh you know warfare is is very different now uh there's int human intelligence is getting rare and rare there's uh you know drone intelligence and and other forms of uh technology ological uh methods.
▶ 3:01:42But I think that um it it's actually a relatively easy problem to solve relatively and um it should start with that and um and simultaneously actually work um on the and and and help you know locate Leah Shereibbo you mentioned and then Chibbook school girls that are still enslaved. Um you mentioned Mr. chairman the um that that there was intelligence sharing in the past but nothing happened.
▶ 3:02:10I think that was a a prime case of that um and u that should be uh and can be pursued again um fairly easily with with modern technology and um and and it should happen uh across the country um including in the north. there should be uh cooperation and and work on the terror groups and uh sealing the border and and um sharing our experience with that.
▶ 3:02:39President Trump's been very good with that and um we have a lot to impart and if the government of Nigeria is willing, I think it would benefit all of us and and and the
▶ 3:02:51Thank you very much. I think you know consecutive US administrations have defined or described the relationship with Nigeria as one of its most important on the continent and even though that relationship has been complicated with you know periods of friction.
▶ 3:03:07I think this moment that we find ourselves in seems as if all things have aligned and there is an opportunity now for both the US and Nigeria to come to the table to reset that relationship especially given the fact that citizens across the board in Nigeria every data point you look at there's overwhelming acknowledgment that the levels of insecurity in the country are I think the fact that we have this coming from Nigerian citizens
▶ 3:03:37provides the opportunity to have real serious conversation based on concrete benchmarks for progress. The mistake that would be made is if it is seen as being a selective intervention favoring one group over the other. So there is an opportunity for Nigeria and the US to reset its relationship, one that would really be based on listening to the Nigerian people.
▶ 3:04:03and Nigerians are saying levels of insecurity are very high. How do we address it? So this opportunity now provides leverage to the US working with the Nigerian government to actually show some very clear
▶ 3:04:20Okay. Thank you very much. I would point out, and this is worth noting because I was always perplexed when Secretary Blinken and I asked him at hearings just like this, why he withdrew um CPC and I never got a good answer. Uh but when we were doing the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, I held all the hearings, most of them in this room, and John Shadic, who was the assistant secretary for democracy, human rights, and labor, testified against it uh for the Clinton administration on the record.
▶ 3:04:50I have all the records. you could go look at it. He said it would create a hierarchy of human rights, which is nonsense. And I even in my response to him in one of the hearings was to say, okay, I was all for combating apartheid, which was not a very popular thing within my party in the very beginning of of the Reagan administration, and I was all for it. Uh, did that take away any other human rights work we were doing? It was not in lie of it was in addition to what we were doing in any other area of human rights work.
▶ 3:05:19And I said the same thing about religious freedom. It is a pillar of our constitution. It's a pillar of our it's really a universally recognized human right. Uh and and um but they said it would set. One year later, I had a hearing on did it do that and I had the CP the ambassador at large religious freedom testify because they were all saying shadic especially it would make everything worse on religious freedom and the word back was even after one year it was seriously advancing religious
▶ 3:05:49freedom. ditto on trafficking. I was told by Harold Co, the assistant secretary for democracy, human rights, and labor right from where we're sitting right now that most of what was in my trafficking victims protection act of 2000 uh would would be counterproductive. We don't need a tip office. We don't need we don't need all of the dozens of new programs that were unleashed by that law. And there was a bipartisan law. Sam Gajensson who sat right here uh with me.
▶ 3:06:20It was my bill but he was our principal co-sponsor and we really worked together to get it passed and and it he was from Connecticut uh and again as we went over year and year after that it was like yeah it really did help but it was stopped in its tracks had we listened to that argument. Blinken was a part of that on the religious freedom back then and and I always felt I could be wrong that there was a sense that the religious freedom act was not something he was terribly enamored of.
▶ 3:06:48So it was very easy to get rid of the CPC status for him because he did not give a good answer when asked directly by me and I wasn't the only one where you sit Dina uh why what's the why of it and uh at one point he told the appropriators that there's no none of this has anything to do with religious freedom you know in terms of the the violence really it just doesn't pass a straight face test so I I you know that's in my humble opinion one of the reasons why uh we had such again and I remind everybody it was Clinton who signed
▶ 3:07:18the International Religious Freedom Act. Um, so and we didn't know if he was going to do it. At the very end, we did have veto proof majorities uh to overcome a veto, but that said, he did sign it. I'm forever grateful for that. Miss Jacobs,
▶ 3:07:32thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, Miss Anogu, thank you for testifying again um before the committee today. As you know, President Trump in his November 1st truth social post on Nigeria threatened to deploy the US military guns blazing into Nigeria to completely wipe out the Islamic terrorists there, stating that if we attack fast, if we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet. All of those are quotes. Um, do you believe unilateral US military strikes in Nigeria would make the situation more or less safe for Nigerian citizens?
▶ 3:08:05I believe it will make it less safe.
▶ 3:08:08Can you elaborate on why?
▶ 3:08:11Because all the data points show us that Nigerians value diverse societies. But even as they value diverse societies, there are also experiences where overwhelmingly there's there are low levels of trust already just from the threats that have been made.
▶ 3:08:27We're already seeing especially if you go on social media people basically forming camps and basically coming up with different conspiracy theories about what is feeding um the the threats that have been made uh by the president.
▶ 3:08:43So I think it's important to understand the complexities of Nigeria and understand how fragile things are in the environment and that for years you've actually had members of the political class that have actually manipulated that public mistrust to gain power. So at this point you hear people forming different camps and making different statements and building different uh conspiracy theories.
▶ 3:09:11I think overwhelmingly Nigerians value unity and the conversations that are happening now are not good for Nigeria's social
▶ 3:09:21Thank you. And and I do want to dig a little bit more into that um because it's not just the actual military strikes that would cause problems, but we've actually already seen that even just these threats and rhetoric have had immediate consequences. Um, I've personally heard anecdotes of this happening already in Nigeria. Um, you mentioned it in your opening statement that this was a risk.
▶ 3:09:44Could you expand on this and explain how inflammatory rhetoric can make tensions within communities even worse and actually lead to the very violence and targeting that this administration says it's trying to So, as I mentioned, because of the low low levels of trust that we see in communities, all we have to do is date back to several conflicts that have occurred over time in different parts of Nigeria. And we've seen how some of them have been driven by conspiracy theories or hearsays.
▶ 3:10:15And in many ways, um, rhetoric like this, um, could actually be detrimental because it it it moves us farther away from finding a real solution to the problem. All we have to do is just look at over the last few weeks since the threats were made and to just listen to all the different conversations and discussions happening.
▶ 3:10:37None of them have actually come out with real solutions from the side of the Nigerian government or from civil society or the international community. Everyone is all focused on what has been said. So it moves us farther from finding solutions and especially in environments like those in the middle middle belt where we've seen protracted conflicts.
▶ 3:11:00Time and time again as you engage in these communities, you realize that while people leave together, there are very low levels of trust. And it's extremely important that we we keep that in mind because very little things can inflame tensions that already exist in the country.
▶ 3:11:19Thank you. Um you you've talked a lot about this deficit of trust, lack of trust, about the sort of crisis of governance in Nigeria. Um how should Nigeria fix this problem and how should the United States work with Nigeria to address it? Like what would you advocate as the type of diplomatic actions and US investments that would would make sense here?
▶ 3:11:46I think most importantly for this situation, Nigeria needs to take the lead and literally summon the utmost political will in this regard. As I mentioned in my testimony, a lot of these narratives have continued because people um Nigerians are not getting the justice that they deserve.
▶ 3:12:06And unfortunately, it's breeding an environment where there's a sense of impunity where those who carry out attacks, regardless of what religion they come from, they feel they can continue those attacks. And then the communities, there's a sense of grievance where at the end of the day, if they feel that the government isn't coming to their aid, they come up with their own narratives. So at the end of the day, there needs to be an acknowledgement on the part of the Nigerian government, Nigeria needs to take the lead.
▶ 3:12:35Nigeria Nigerian leaders need to summon the political will and work with their allies and work with their allies and partners such as the United States to be able to address this um this this violence. You know, at the end of the day, we may put out numbers there and talk about the the the the numbers of of victims, but it's important for us to put a face to these numbers. The violence has gone on for so long in Nigeria.
▶ 3:13:04So Nigeria needs to take the lead, work in partnership with allies such as the US. And there is a moment here. There is an opportunity here for folks to come to the table to really find a sustainable solution to this problem.
▶ 3:13:19Thank you. I back
▶ 3:13:22Mr. Moore.
▶ 3:13:26Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you very much. And um Mich appreciate you uh highlighting the issue of u the disarmment of fani militants. I think that certainly would be one of these solutions. Obviously there's not a singular one. It's a multifaceted uh problem that's going on here in different regions of the country and there's a lot of complexities to it.
▶ 3:13:51But um as we've heard I think a couple times here and I do agree with there is an opportunity here uh for the Nigerian government uh to strengthen, deepen and broaden their relationship with the United States if they will do that in coordination and um in coordination and cooperation with the United States government. Uh when I met with the delegation uh as Mr. Smith met with him as well.
▶ 3:14:22That was one of the messages that I gave to them is that there is an opportunity here, but you're going to have to take that opportunity. And I I am very hopeful that they will do that because myself and U. Chairman Smith and President Trump, we've had enough of this.
▶ 3:14:42Th this cannot continue to go on in the manner that it has and it now has the president's attention and I I do agree that you know you get all this kind of information flying around out here um that many times is not helpful.
▶ 3:14:59I I I recently saw the foreign minister was in some interview I think it was Piers Morgan and it was the same thing when they came here and some of us spoke to them just disputing these numbers right uh I think the foreign minister said in the last five years there's only 177 Christians have been killed I I don't think there's anybody believes that right um and I I don't think that it's necessarily constructive on their part to
▶ 3:15:30try to downplay uh what's happening here. But Mich how do you think about the differences though and between some of these statistics that have been reported obviously have non-governmental organizations that it seems to me uh have robust on the groundformational and um and those offered by the Nigerian government.
▶ 3:15:55How how do we have such a a huge disparity in the numbers in between what we're saying um or what some of these groups on the ground are saying and then the foreign minister saying there's a 177 Christians killed in the entire country of Nigeria over the last five years that which is just hard to believe. Um it it seems that number was achieved likely in just the last couple months.
▶ 3:16:25But please
▶ 3:16:27uh yes, you're right. It's huge disparity and um assuming it's not just propaganda. Um one of the reasons why there is u a range of numbers for any particular event is that precisely because the government doesn't do any police work. So there's no one that comes in to prevent it or to during its occurrence to stop it or in the in the immediate aftermath. So the uh witnesses have fled for their lives. There's chaos.
▶ 3:16:57There's destruction everywhere. The the evidence has been tampered with or been deteriorated by the time people come along. It's very hard for the local um pastors and priests who are the ones there um taking the body counts um helping the survivors. It's very difficult for them to do that job uh and at the same time do documentation.
▶ 3:17:21They do it as best as they can, but the numbers are are far larger than that foreign minister is saying. I I also want to say that um I think that uh President Trump's uh designation of CPC has been extremely important. He has gotten the attention of the uh government of Nigeria. There is we've heard that there's a high level delegation in Washington today discussing this with the United States.
▶ 3:17:50I met with them yesterday. [laughter]
▶ 3:17:52Yeah. So so I think that um this has very been a very beneficial exercise thus far. We'll see how it plays out.
▶ 3:18:00Yeah, I think you're right on that. And we've heard several people mention um early warning systems and and I do agree with that. I I think that those can be helpful, but I do want to highlight uh a case that just happened uh recently in the plateau state. We had a pastor there who had warned the Nigerian government and said, "We are under eminent threat.
▶ 3:18:27We are going to face an attack if you all don't send some forces here in the next 24 hours. We need help. Please come here and help us. The Nigerian government not only ignored it, they literally put out a press release about it, calling it fake news and hyperbole and being overblown. Well, 13 people lost their lives the next day. 13 people murdered.
▶ 3:18:55Christians Um I don't know how much an early warning system is going to work if people aren't listening to warnings that are literally over the phone. I I'm not sure.
▶ 3:19:10So I I'd say to the Nigerian you're going to have to and we keep using the term prioritize this uh because it's certainly a priority for President Trump and I think many of us on this uh panel here today on this dis but I just wanted to highlight that because those are that that is the type of behavior that has to change because and to your point of people not trusting the government.
▶ 3:19:40How can you trust a government that doesn't even show up when you ask them How are you supposed to trust your life with something like that? You can't. Obviously, you can't. And I think that's why it's incumbent upon the Nigerian government to work with us in coordination and cooperation to address these issues. Obviously, there's going to be uh some type of bifurcated approach to this.
▶ 3:20:03The fani Islamic militant issue in the middle belt of the country is distinctly different from what you face with Boka Haram and ISIS in the northeast of the country and that's probably more of a question of kinetic military options rather than some of the other things that maybe state department could do more in the middle belt backed up by some of those same type of um at least military deterrence uh options in that part of the country. But I I think it does need to be a kind of whole of government approach to this.
▶ 3:20:33But we we have to have the Nigerian government as a as a willing partner in all of this. Um because the president is, as Chairman Smith just said, extremely serious about this. I'm extremely serious about this. I I'm I stay up at night. It's it's hard to sleep sometimes thinking about this. And I pray about it every single night. Um just thinking about, you know, my own brothers and sisters in Christ in that country just getting murdered for the profession of their faith, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
▶ 3:21:03So it's it is absolutely heartbreaking, but I do want to thank the chairman again for uh convening this hearing as he has over the many years and been working to advocate for uh people of Nigeria. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yel back
▶ 3:21:17very much, Mr. more and thank you for your leadership, Mr. Jackson.
▶ 3:21:23Thank you, Chairman. Thank you for your leadership. Uh to Mr. Anbu, uh what do you see as the primary drivers of religious freedom violations in Nigeria? And secondly, what are the political, economic, social, and historical factors that exacerbate the situation?
▶ 3:21:45Thank you, Congressman. I I really think it's a mix of factors here that we're looking at. A mix of factors here. And as I mentioned in my testimony, at a core of this are failures of governance. There needs to be an opportunity to address the governance deficits that we see across the board in Nigeria at every level. And I think sometimes when we look at this issue, it's also important because we haven't been able to take a look at it from a from a whole of government, from a holistic point of view.
▶ 3:22:16It's important for us to understand what are the areas that really encompass more institutional weaknesses and then what are the areas that are plainly just a lack of political will. And so I think again as I'd mentioned earlier in my earlier response, there is an opportunity here to actually begin to identify what are the areas that what are the institutional weaknesses that exist within the Nigerian system that allow or enable the
▶ 3:22:46environment for the violation of of religious freedoms. And then what are the instances where it's just plain old lack of political will. Once we're able to do that, then you'll be able to identify a proper solution to a problem. Right now, um, we haven't been able to identify a proper solution and this is why these conflicts are protracted and they've continued time and time again.
▶ 3:23:12Well, thank you so much. Uh, it's also very peculiar. I'd like for it to be noted in the record as we look forward to uh the great works of the continent and Africa as it marches and rises towards 2050 where 25% of the world's population will be of African descent and this country the United States seems to talk down to African people historically.
▶ 3:23:37I would say that United States is a very generous nation and in some ways the most generous nation but has the most peculiar cruelty towards the African continent and it must be confronted about its legacy. The second thing is we are con right now in a hostile environment with the Republic of South Africa and Nigeria the nation's two most populous countries if you will or certainly two most prosperous countries that should be dealt with. I have another question for you.
▶ 3:24:07Um based on your experience, uh which which uh types of US government programs or initiatives have been past or present have been most effective in promoting religious freedom and interfaith dialogue in Nigeria.
▶ 3:24:25Thank you very much for that question. And for several years, I actually worked specifically in the middle belt on these types of community security um initiatives. And we've seen local level peaceuilding initiatives where communities have been able to and most importantly as a community led led by the communities they've been able to put in place early warning systems and beyond those early warning systems moving a step further to ensure early response
▶ 3:24:55because as has already been pointed out it's of no use if people are able to raise an alarm and no response comes through. So over the years, we've seen some successful um low-level peaceuilding uh programs across the middle belt, community-led peaceuilding uh programs. We've also seen programs that have uh included uh religious leaders from both faiths, particularly in places like Kaduna, in Adamawa, in Benway, in Plateau State.
▶ 3:25:26We've seen interfaith mediation councils where Muslims and Christian leaders have been able to come together to work closely with their communities. Those types of initiatives we've seen have been very
▶ 3:25:40Last question I would have for you. In its effort to dismantle the US aid program, the Trump administration terminated a USID program called Partner that supported peacebuilding efforts to northern and north central Nigeria. The $2 million project helped to strengthen the country's early warning and security response systems and provide training for local leaders, including religious leaders, on conflict mitigation strategies.
▶ 3:26:10This project amongst others like it helped to provide local leaders with mechanisms to alert law enforcement to possible conflicts before it happens. Partner also helped facilitate communications between farmer and herder, community leaders, often individuals from different religious backgrounds in an attempt to bridge the gap between the two groups. Uh Miss Aungu, what are some of these early warning signs of conflict?
▶ 3:26:38How would you describe the drivers of conflict in northern and central Nigeria? And to what extent do you assess these stem from religious and climate and resource
▶ 3:26:51As I said, the the mix of these drivers, it's it's a mix and they're complex. And that's why I say as you look at violence or as you look at a specific conflict, it's important to understand that there might be some conflicts or there are conflicts that are specifically driven by religion and there are some other conflicts that may have specific Where the challenge is now or where the problem is is when everything is
▶ 3:27:21lumped in together. you know, working for several years in the middle belt when um a conflict breaks out and people say, "Oh, it's a farmer head of conflict. It's a farmer head of conflict." Now, every type of conflict in the middle belt becomes a farmer head of conflict. But we need to take the time and take the step to actually identify which of these conflicts are driven specifically because of disputes between farmers and headers.
▶ 3:27:48Which of and then which of these conflicts are just plain old criminality as some of them are. And then which of those conflicts are actually driven because they are t people might be targeted because of their faith. And I think this is where we miss the point when we do not acknowledge the complexities within Nigeria when we use a single story to define the conflict. This is why we've not been able to find viable solutions.
▶ 3:28:16If we go back and I believe Miss Shen in the in the previous panel we spoke about the Chibbach girls. This was an incident that happened in 2014 and just a week ago we saw another group of another group of school children kidnapped from their schools.
▶ 3:28:32Since 2014 till today we've seen six different incidents of and we've had discussions on each and every one of them but we've not been able to identify a viable solution because we tend to oversimplify and we tend to generalize what the problems are.
▶ 3:28:51But for every conflict that happens in Nigeria, there are specific drivers and we have to be able to take the time to identify what the root cause is of each specific conflict for us to be able to develop a sustainable solution.
▶ 3:29:08And thank you so much for your testimony. I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 3:29:12Mr. Jackson, Mr. Stusman.
▶ 3:29:14Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you both for being here. um consecutive here in the United States have viewed Nigeria as an important partner in West Africa. But I would say that our relationship has been less than perfect.
▶ 3:29:30Uh just last year, the Nigerian government wrongly detained Tigran Gambarian, a US citizen and former US a IRS agent for nine months on trumped up charges of moneyaundering and tax Combining this with the Nigerians uh the Nigerian government's woefully inadequate response to this violence, um I'm concerned that they may not have our best interest at heart. And and I'd like to both of you to answer this.
▶ 3:30:00Uh and Miss Shay, maybe you can go first, but would you elaborate on the relationship between Nigeria and the United States? And do you think continued inaction on religious freedom issues will harm our relationship going forward? Does Nigeria want to have a civilized relationship with countries in the west and uh in Europe and other parts of the world?
▶ 3:30:25Oh, thank you for your question. Um, I think that Nigeria wants and needs the United States and I think that um, many Nigerians have come to this country and continue to come to this country for education, for investment reasons or to live and they are among our most successful, if not the most successful immigrant group. Um, so I think that they have a lot to gain and they know that from a relationship with the United States.
▶ 3:30:53I think I'm encouraged that the Nigerian government has an extremely high level delegation over here uh talking to the admin Trump administration about how to uh improve
▶ 3:31:06So that the Nigerian people for sure is what it sounds like you're saying want a relationship with the United States. What about the Nigerian government? I mean, to the extent that, you know, they're they're giving us lip service on Christians being killed, I mean, do they have the ability to put a stop to the
▶ 3:31:28I think they have an ability to take action, which they have not done in the middle belt where the Christians are the primary target. They're the special target um in of these militias, and the government has not lifted a finger to help them until now. uh and maybe not even now but um I think that the uh government uh was not given any message before.
▶ 3:31:52I mean we really uh this is the first year that the United the first uh couple weeks that the government of the United States has said that there is a problem that we are not hap you know we we uh our law the international religious freedom act requires us to point them out and put them on the list of the world's worst persecutors of religious freedom of of uh violators of religious freedom. So um they have not gotten that message before.
▶ 3:32:22Um before they were told that there were root causes that there's these are two socioeconomic groups. There was no mention of religion. There was we were told uh and the chairman Smith was told uh by secretary Blinken and others that there this had nothing to do with religion. So um now um we're we have a a new analysis and I think that we've had a very hopeful response to that. Ma'am, I mean, are we frenemies?
▶ 3:32:53Are we uh what are we?
▶ 3:32:56We're friends. [laughter] And I'm sorry, I I actually missed your original question. If you could repeat.
▶ 3:33:04Yeah, I just asking, you know, could you elaborate on the relationship between Nigeria and the United States? And do you think that continued inaction on religious freedom issues will harm our relationship going forward? Does Nigeria are they hearing the messages that are coming from our president, from the United States about the concern of
▶ 3:33:22And not just I mean I realize there's people that are being killed that are both, you know, Christian and
▶ 3:33:29but that this sort of violence is just cannot be tolerated.
▶ 3:33:33Well, if they weren't hearing it before, they're definitely hearing it now. And I think as I've mentioned before, there is an opportunity and an opportunity that should not be missed in the way we convey as the US how we want to work with Nigeria on this issue. Um the framing of the engagement really matters and I think this is where um we have to be the US has to be strategic in its partnership.
▶ 3:34:03The partnership with Nigeria, as you rightfully mentioned, is one of our most important partnerships on the continent. As was mentioned, by 2050, the population of Nigeria will surpass the population of the United States. So, this is definitely a relationship that we have to keep and build, but approach our dialogues from a place of honesty.
▶ 3:34:26And I think what we have going now in this relationship is that the Nigerian people there is a wide acknowledgment by the Nigerian people that something needs to be done and done quickly about the levels of insecurity in the country.
▶ 3:34:43Do you think the Nigerian government is capable of putting a stop to the violence? And then this is where I say that with the Nigerian government actually looking at where the inefficiencies lie or where the weaknesses are within its institutional capacity and I think this is where again being able to differentiate what are institutional weaknesses and then what is just plain lack of political will.
▶ 3:35:10And I think there needs to be an admittance of where the areas of weakness lie and there are some clear areas of of of weakness. I agree and I think they should if if they can't handle it, they should be willing to ask the international community for help. I mean, you know, we we should all be standing for life
▶ 3:35:27no matter where at in the world.
▶ 3:35:29Thank you.
▶ 3:35:30I yield back.
▶ 3:35:33Thank you. As [clears throat] we close, I just want to make a point. Um, US Commission on International Religious Freedom in their report says that Nigeria's government has continued to forcibly close camps hosting displaced Christians who fled violence by boo Haram despite persistent security concerns in their communities of origin. Uh, that is a deep concern and we're appealing to the country to the government I should say of Nigeria to rectify that.
▶ 3:35:59Uh I also would point out that you know there's a without objection I would ask that a unanimous consent that a op-ed that's in national review by Morin Ferguson and ESF Ma Mahmud uh be included. It's the title is Nigerian girls are being kidnapped. Islamic terrorists have inflicted a decade of religiously motivated violence on Christian women and girls.
▶ 3:36:23I would note parathetically that according to Amnesty International uh April 2024 that over 1,700 children have been abducted since 2014 since the Chebac girls incident 17 cases of mass abduction. Uh but it's interesting that this piece that was written this oped um and without objection it'll be it'll be part of the record. Moren Ferguson was appointed to the commission by Mike Johnson the speaker.
▶ 3:36:48Um, Aif Mood was appointed by Hakeim Jeff. So there you have both sides of the aisle, both sides of the political ideological spectrum writing an op-ed about these girls and about this this terrible sexual violence. So without objection, it is part of the record. And anything else that you'd like to say before we close? Thank you so much for your for your leadership, your your comments today.
▶ 3:37:16I want to thank my colleagues both sides of the aisle for their very very incisive questions. Uh and we have much to do. The hearing is adjourned.