Sponsors (8)
The bill would increase U.S. attention, reporting, sanctions, and targeted aid to protect persecuted religious minorities and hold abusers accountable, but risks straining U.S.–Nigeria relations, provoking local reprisals, complicating humanitarian access, and imposing administrative and taxpayer costs.
Persecuted religious minorities in Nigeria would receive stronger U.S. diplomatic pressure and potential sanctions/visa bans, increasing protection and accountability for perpetrators.
Regular mandated reporting will give U.S. policymakers clearer, up-to-date information on persecution and humanitarian needs, enabling more targeted diplomatic, sanction, and aid decisions.
Co‑funded humanitarian assistance and use of trusted local NGOs could speed delivery of aid to millions of internally displaced persons in Nigeria’s middle belt.
Imposing sanctions, public designations, or conditioning assistance could significantly strain U.S.–Nigeria relations and reduce cooperation on security and counterterrorism.
Public naming, sanctions, or heightened attention could inflame local tensions and provoke reprisals against vulnerable communities, increasing risks to civilians on the ground.
Focusing reporting and assistance on displaced Christians could be perceived as religiously biased, undermining U.S. credibility as a neutral human-rights promoter and inflaming sectarian tensions.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Requires State to report within 90 days and annually on U.S. actions addressing religious persecution in Nigeria and urges sanctions and coordinated measures to hold perpetrators and complicit actors accountable.
Official title: To require a comprehensive report on United States efforts to address religious persecution and mass atrocities in Nigeria.
Introduced February 10, 2026 by Christopher Henry Smith · Last progress February 10, 2026
Requires the State Department to report within 90 days and annually while Nigeria is designated a Country of Particular Concern on U.S. actions to address widespread religious persecution in Nigeria and aligns U.S. policy with USCIRF recommendations. Expresses Congress’s nonbinding view that Nigeria’s government has failed to protect religious minorities, urges use of diplomatic, economic, humanitarian, and security tools (including targeted sanctions, possible FTO determinations for Fulani militias, and conditioned security cooperation), and calls for measures to protect persecuted communities, repeal blasphemy laws, and support displaced persons. The bill also contains a detailed findings clause documenting large-scale violence, church attacks, displacement, and alleged impunity; it requests specific sanctions and naming of militia actors and public figures; and it asks the Secretary of State to assess whether to designate some groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and to coordinate international and technical assistance to Nigeria.