The United States House Appropriations Committee will on Tuesday host a joint congressional briefing to review claims of widespread persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
In a statement posted on X, the committee said the session will be led by Mario Diaz-Balart, vice chair of the appropriations committee and chairman of its national security subcommittee. He will be joined by other appropriators as well as members from the foreign affairs and financial services committees.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom and other subject-matter experts are also expected to participate in the roundtable.
According to the committee, the briefing will gather key testimonies that will form part of a comprehensive report ordered by former President Donald Trump. The report will focus on alleged attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria and outline actions Congress can take to support US efforts to protect vulnerable religious groups worldwide.
Congressman Riley Moore, in a separate notice shared on X, said Trump had tasked him and the Republican appropriations team to urgently investigate the situation. He described Tuesday’s event as a major step in that process.
Moore said he would be speaking at the roundtable as an expert witness, adding that the committee “will never turn a blind eye to our brothers and sisters in Christ who suffer for their faith”.
The development comes weeks after President Bola Tinubu approved the Nigerian delegation to the US-Nigeria Joint Working Group — a bilateral mechanism aimed at strengthening cooperation on security and counterterrorism. The committee was formed following a recent visit to Washington, DC, by a Nigerian team led by National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu.
