Faith, Fury, and Fault Lines: Nigeria Rejects U.S. Religious Persecution Label Amid Rising Tensions

Nigeria has firmly rejected the United States’ designation of the country as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) for alleged violations of religious freedom, calling the move “misinformed and misleading.” The announcement, made shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump accused Nigeria of failing to protect its Christian population, has sparked diplomatic unease between the two nations. Trump’s warning of possible military action if Nigeria “does not crack down on the killing of Christians” was met with sharp rebuttals from Nigerian officials, who argued that the U.S. had oversimplified a complex security crisis driven by terrorism, not religion.

Defending the government’s record, Nigeria’s information minister Mohammed Idris emphasized that the nation’s security challenges are multifaceted and not rooted in religious persecution. “Any narrative suggesting that the Nigerian State is failing to take action against religious attacks is based on misinformation or faulty data,” Idris stated during a press briefing in Abuja. He noted that President Bola Tinubu’s administration has recorded significant progress against terrorism, killing over 13,500 insurgents and rescuing more than 11,200 hostages since May 2023. Idris reaffirmed that both Christians and Muslims have suffered from extremist violence and urged the U.S. to collaborate with Nigeria in combating terrorism—without undermining its sovereignty.

Meanwhile, human rights organizations and Christian advocacy groups have welcomed Washington’s decision, citing worsening religiously motivated violence and discrimination in some northern Shari’a states. Groups like CSW and Open Doors point to the alarming rate of abductions and attacks on Christian communities, particularly in central Nigeria’s Plateau State, as evidence of systemic persecution. Nigeria currently ranks seventh on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List for Christian persecution. Analysts warn that unless both governments find common ground—balancing diplomatic tact with actionable cooperation—the widening gap between perception and reality could inflame both international pressure and internal religious divisions in Africa’s most populous nation.