The United States congress is set to review allegations of Christian persecution in Nigeria on Thursday, following President Donald Trump’s decision to re-designate the country as a “country of particular concern (CPC)”.
The session will be led by Chris Smith, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Africa sub-committee.
Smith, who has been among the US lawmakers advocating these allegations, previously introduced a resolution identifying the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) and the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore as implicated groups.
The resolution proposed visa restrictions and asset freezes on members of the organisations.
It also urged the US to include “Fulani-Ethnic Militias” operating in Benue and Plateau states on the entities of particular concern (EPC) list under the International Religious Freedom Act.
Thursday’s hearing will focus on the “ongoing religious persecution of Christians by radical Islamists,” the implications of Trump’s CPC re-designation of Nigeria, and what actions the US State Department should take in response to what it calls the “Nigerian government’s complicity in these crimes,” according to Smith’s office.
Expected witnesses on the first panel include Jonathan Pratt, senior bureau official at the Bureau of African Affairs, and Jacob McGee, deputy assistant secretary at the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour.
The second panel will feature Nina Shea, senior fellow and director at the Centre for Religious Freedom; Wilfred Anagbe, bishop of Makurdi diocese; and Oge Onubogu, director and senior fellow, Africa Programme, Centre for Strategic & International Studies.