House subcommittee hearing urges U.S. action, including possible redesignation of Nigeria as a "country of particular concern"

Chairman Smith opened a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing saying the purpose was “to discuss the deteriorating state of religious freedom in Nigeria and the urgent need to redesignate Nigeria as a country of particular concern, pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act.”

The hearing brought testimony from human-rights experts, U.S. religious-freedom commissioners and a Nigerian bishop, who described widespread attacks on Christian farming communities, mass displacement and the kidnapping and killing of clergy. Witnesses urged the Biden administration to redraw U.S. policy tools — including possible sanctions and a renewed diplomatic focus — and said cuts to U.S. foreign-assistance programs have weakened conflict-prevention efforts.

Why it matters: Witnesses and several members said the violence has a broad humanitarian and regional security impact, displacing millions from productive farmland and threatening food security in West Africa. They framed the question before the committee as both a human-rights issue and a U.S. foreign-policy decision about whether to reapply the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) mechanism known as designation as a country of particular concern (CPC).

Chairman Smith emphasized that redesignation would be a policy lever to pressure the Nigerian government. ‘‘I reintroduced the resolution calling on the administration to redesignate Nigeria as a CPC,’’ he said, noting H. Res. 82 had been refiled.…