US Lawmakers Resist Calls to Remove Nigeria From Religious Freedom Watchlist

 Pressure is mounting over Nigeria's continued designation by the United States as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), with some U.S. lawmakers arguing that Washington should not remove Nigeria from the list until the Nigerian government demonstrates stronger and more sustained action to protect vulnerable religious communities.

The renewed debate follows recent attacks in Nigeria's Middle Belt, including Plateau State, and fresh engagements between Washington and Abuja through the U.S.-Nigeria Joint Working Group on Nigeria's CPC designation.

The latest meeting of the Joint Working Group was held in Washington on August 12, 2026, with U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker leading the American delegation and Nigeria's National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, leading the Nigerian delegation. Discussions focused on protecting Christian communities in the Middle Belt, strengthening judicial and security institutions to ensure accountability, and expanding military-to-military cooperation.

The development has nevertheless triggered renewed debate over whether Nigeria has done enough to warrant a review or removal of the designation.

Nigeria was first designated a CPC in 2020 during Donald Trump's first administration. The designation was removed in 2021, but President Trump redesignated Nigeria as a CPC in 2025 amid continuing concerns over religious freedom and attacks affecting religious communities. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has continued to recommend Nigeria's CPC designation.

Speaking on the issue, global affairs analyst Collins Oweke said Nigeria should not treat the American designation merely as a diplomatic embarrassment but should focus on the underlying security and governance conditions that led to it.

According to Oweke, the central question should be whether Nigerians Christians and Muslims alike  are becoming safer.

He acknowledged that Christian communities have suffered attacks and persecution, but argued that insecurity in Nigeria cannot be examined exclusively through a religious lens.

Terrorist attacks, banditry, farmer-herder conflicts, ethnic tensions and criminality have affected communities across different regions and religious groups.

The U.S. State Department's own reporting has previously documented widespread insecurity affecting both Christians and Muslims. Its 2022 religious-freedom report, for instance, noted frequent violent incidents in northern Nigeria affecting both religious communities.

Oweke therefore argued that the Nigerian government's strongest response to Washington should be measurable improvements in security, justice and accountability.

He said the country should be able to demonstrate that fewer people are being killed, communities are better protected and perpetrators are being brought to justice.

Former worldwide board member of the Nigerian Diaspora Organisation, Professor Jide Adebiyi, meanwhile, questioned whether the United States itself should be viewed as an unquestionable authority on religious freedom and international conduct.

He argued that America's foreign policy record has also generated serious international criticism, and that Washington's designation of other countries should therefore be subjected to scrutiny.

However, Adebiyi acknowledged that the origins of the CPC designation cannot simply be dismissed as American interference.

According to him, Nigerians themselves  including citizens who believed successive governments were failing to adequately address insecurity have repeatedly called on the international community to intervene.

That, he said, creates a complicated situation in which Nigeria must confront both the reality of insecurity at home and the consequences of international attention.

The debate over Nigeria's CPC status comes against the background of a security crisis that has defied simple religious explanations.

Nigeria has faced Boko Haram and Islamic State-linked terrorism in the northeast, banditry in the northwest, communal and farmer-herder conflicts in parts of the North Central, as well as separatist and criminal violence in other parts of the country.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's 2026 recommendations continue to list Nigeria among countries it considers to warrant CPC status. Its assessment attributes the crisis to a combination of religiously motivated extremist violence, economic and ethnic tensions, problematic laws and what it describes as inadequate government responses.

That complexity has also become central to Nigeria's engagement with Washington.

The Joint Working Group established by the two countries is specifically examining ways to protect vulnerable communities, improve accountability and strengthen security cooperation rather than treating the issue exclusively as a dispute over America's designation.

The Nigerian government has said the bilateral process demonstrates its commitment to protecting lives and restoring security, while the United States has identified protection of Christian communities in the Middle Belt and accountability for perpetrators as key areas of cooperation.

A CPC designation gives Washington additional diplomatic leverage in dealing with countries accused of particularly severe violations of religious freedom. It can also lead to consideration of policy responses under U.S. religious-freedom legislation.

For Nigeria, the designation therefore carries diplomatic and reputational consequences beyond the label itself.

But analysts say the most effective way for Abuja to challenge the designation is not simply to demand its removal.

Instead, Nigeria would need to demonstrate sustained improvements: fewer attacks, stronger protection for vulnerable communities, credible investigations, successful prosecutions and greater accountability for perpetrators.

The debate also highlights the importance of ensuring that the protection of religious freedom does not become a competition over which faith community has suffered more.

For millions of Nigerians, the immediate concern remains the same regardless of religious identity: the right to live, worship, farm, travel and raise families without fear of being attacked.

As Washington and Abuja continue their discussions, the future of Nigeria's CPC designation may ultimately depend less on diplomatic arguments and more on what happens on the ground  and whether both governments can demonstrate that Nigerian communities are becoming demonstrably safer.