Trump Says He Will Designate Nigeria ‘Country of Particular Concern’ – National Catholic Register

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Christian leaders delivered a letter to the president on Oct. 15 that said 52,000 Christians have been killed and over 20,000 churches attacked and destroyed in Nigeria since 2009.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he is designating Nigeria a “country of particular concern.”
In a social media post Oct. 31, Trump said, “Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a ‘COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN’.”
Under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998, the U.S president must designate countries that engage in or tolerate “particularly severe violations of religious freedom” as CPCs. Violations include torture, prolonged detention without charges, and forced disappearance, according to the U.S. State Department. 
The last CPC designations were made by Secretary of State Antony Blinken in December 2023, when Blinken revoked Nigeria’s CPC designation that was put in place by then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2020. 
Christian leaders delivered a letter to Trump on Oct. 15 that said 52,000 Christians have been killed and over 20,000 churches attacked and destroyed in Nigeria since 2009. In addition, it said, thousands of Christians have been murdered and raped in 2025, and “over 100 Christian pastors and Catholic priests have been taken hostage for ransom.”
Trump said in the social media post, “But that is the least of it. When Christians, or any such group, is slaughtered like is happening in Nigeria (3,100 versus 4,476 Worldwide), something must be done!” 
The president said he will charge Rep. Riley Moore, R-WVa., along with House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., “to immediately look into this matter, and report back to me.” 
“The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other Countries,” Trump stated, adding: “We stand ready, willing, and able to save our Great Christian population around the World!”
The Vatican Secretary of State’s comment echoes government claims, but many Church leaders and analysts insist religion remains central to the violence.
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