Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025

This bill pushes the U.S. to take a tougher stance on religious freedom abuses in Nigeria. It requires the State Department to label Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” for severe religious freedom violations and to label Boko Haram and ISIS–West Africa as “Entities of Particular Concern” in official religious freedom reports . It also directs the President to impose human-rights sanctions, under an existing sanctions order that can block property, on Nigerian officials and others who promote or enforce blasphemy laws, or who tolerate religiously motivated violence by groups like those listed above .

The State Department must send Congress a list of responsible Nigerian officials within 90 days and then every year. The first list looks back 10 years; each later list covers the time since the previous report . The Secretary of State can pause these designations only if the extremist groups are no longer operating in Nigeria and if Nigerian governments are not enforcing blasphemy laws .

• Who is affected: Nigerian federal and state officials, judges, and other authorities tied to blasphemy laws or religiously motivated violence; extremist groups Boko Haram and ISIS–West Africa; U.S. agencies carrying out sanctions and reports .
• What changes: U.S. religious freedom labels for Nigeria and certain groups become required; targeted sanctions must be used against listed individuals; regular public reports to Congress begin .
• When: First report due 90 days after enactment (covering the prior 10 years), then annually; designations apply in ongoing State Department reports, with limited waiver options .