US Rep writes Trump to redesignate Nigeria ‘Country of Particular Concern’ over the ‘genocide’ of Northern Christians

US Rep writes Trump to redesignate Nigeria ‘Country of Particular Concern’ reversed by Joe Biden

By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor

Riley Moore, a lawmaker representing West Virginia’s Second District in the United States House of Representatives, has written to President Donald Trump to immediately redesignate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concerns (CPC)” over the “genocide” of Northern Christians.

The plea echoes that made over the years by Nigerian-American international human rights activist, Emmanuel Ogebe, who has asked both the US Congress and government to redesignate Nigeria a CPC for the targeted massacre of Christians particularly in Nigeria’s North East and North Central.

Ogebe, in his latest advocacy published by TheNiche on October 7, cited the case of Nathaniel Ezekiel Wali, the sole survivor of a genocidal Boko Haram attack in Yobe in 2013, who finally died this year.

Nathan was working for a construction company in Yobe when the terrorists stormed their staff quarters and singled out Christians for killing. Only one Muslim was among them, Ogebe recounted.

Moore’s letter dated October 6 and forwarded to Trump through Secretary of State Marco Rubio,  urged Washington to immediately halt sales of arms and all associated technical support to Nigeria until the “Nigerian government demonstrates that it is sufficiently committed to ending the reign of persecution and slaughter.”

Moore said:

• From January to September 2025 alone, no fewer than 7,000 Christians were gruesomely murdered by “Muslim extremist groups”.

• At least 250 Catholic Priests have been attacked or killed across Nigeria since 2015, and “between Boko Haram uprising in 2009 and 2025, 19,100 churches in Nigeria have been attacked or destroyed”.

Trump in his first tenure designated Nigeria as a CPC but his successor Joe Biden reversed the designation.

US Senator Ted Cruz, television host Bill Maher, and political commentator Van Jones have also alleged that Nigeria is witnessing a “Christian genocide”.

Cruz alleged in a recent podcast appearance with American talk show host Bill Maher that Christians are being systematically targeted and killed in Nigeria, describing it as “genocide”.

The Nigerian government has dismissed the report, arguing that the impact of rising insecurity in the country does not affect a particular religion.

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Sole survivor of Boko Haram genocide dies 12 years after targeted attack on Christians in Yobe