Washington, D.C. – Congressman Riley Moore today sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling on the U.S. Department of State to redesignate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) due to the alarming and ongoing persecution of Christians across the country.
In his letter, Congressman Moore urged President Trump’s administration to take “immediate action to address the systematic persecution and slaughter of Christians in Nigeria,” highlighting the nation’s growing reputation as “the deadliest place in the world to be a Christian.”
Congressman Moore’s letter detailed that over 7,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria in 2025 alone—an average of 35 per day—with hundreds more kidnapped, tortured, or displaced by extremist groups such as Boko Haram. The Congressman also pointed to reports indicating that 19,100 Christian churches have been attacked or destroyed since 2009 and that elements of the Nigerian government may be complicit in the violence. Reports from Open Doors indicate that more Christians are killed every year in Nigeria than the rest of the world combined.
The Congressman noted that President Trump previously designated Nigeria as a CPC, a designation reversed under President Biden, and called on Secretary Rubio to restore the designation and suspend all U.S. arms sales and technical support to Nigeria until the government takes swift action to protect the persecuted.
Congressman Moore issued the following statement:
“Nigeria has become the deadliest place in the world to be a Christian. Just this year, a priest was kidnapped and murdered on Ash Wednesday and 54 Christians were martyred on Palm Sunday. 7,000 Christians have been martyred this year alone. More than 50,000 Christians have been murdered since 2009.
The United States cannot stand idly by while believers are slaughtered. We must acknowledge the religious nature of this scourge of anti-Christian violence from radical Islamic terrorists. It’s time for the United States to defend our brothers and sisters in Christ, and designating Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern will provide the diplomatic levers to do just that. I urge Secretary Rubio to designate Nigeria as a CPC without delay.”
