The administration of President Bola Tinubu is about to come under serious pressure in Washington, as the United States House of Representatives gets ready to examine Nigeria over claims that Christians are being killed in their thousands.
The session has been scheduled for November 12, 2026. It will be held at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington DC, and Nigerians across the world will be able to follow it live on YouTube.
Rep. Chris Smith will preside over the session. Smith chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa.
His office made the announcement public on Monday. The session is titled "One Year Later: Assessing Nigeria's Efforts to Protect Christians and Secure the Middle Belt".
Based on the announcement, the members of Congress will review what Abuja has achieved in the past twelve months in protecting Christians, stabilising the Middle Belt, and bringing to book those carrying out faith-based attacks, including Boko Haram and Fulani terrorists.
Two different groups of speakers are billed to address the hearing.
On the first group are Frank Garcia, who serves as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, and Riley Barnes, who serves as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour.
The second group will feature Nina Shea from the Hudson Institute, Ryan Brown, the Chief Executive Officer of Open Doors US, and Oge Onubogu from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
The lawmakers are also expected to debate measures Washington can adopt to compel the Nigerian authorities to stop attacks on Christians and moderate Muslim communities.
The session is coming about one year after President Donald Trump returned Nigeria to the list of Countries of Particular Concern, CPC.
Trump had earlier placed Nigeria on the CPC list in 2020, during his first tenure. After he left office, former President Joe Biden took the country off the list.
But on October 31, 2025, Trump restored Nigeria to the list. He argued that Christianity was under existential threat in Nigeria and blamed radical Islamist groups for the killing of thousands of Christians.
Trump further threatened to cut off all American aid to Nigeria. He also warned that military action was possible if the Tinubu administration failed to end the killings.
"If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the USA will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now-disgraced country, guns-a-blazing, to completely wipe out the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities," Trump had said.
Another US lawmaker, Congressman Riley Moore, has also been mounting pressure for tougher measures.
In a post to mark one year since the CPC redesignation, Moore stated that Christians in Nigeria are still going through unspeakable violence.
US lawmakers set to grill Tinubu govt over Christian genocide in Middle Belt