Senate bill calls on Nigeria to stop persecution of Christians

The Family Research Council on Wednesday thanked Sen. Ted Cruz for introducing a bill to hold Nigerian authorities accountable for the persecution of Christians. Cruz’s bill, the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, aims to punish the Nigerian government for enforcing sharia law and enabling religious terrorism.

The bill has been read twice and referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, according to Congress’ website.

Twelve state governments in the country enforce sharia law, and its federal government criminalizes blasphemy against Islam nationwide, according to Cruz’s office. Nigeria’s government has not stopped Islamist jihadist groups from killing over 52,000 Nigerian Christians since 2009 and destroying more than 20,000 Christian churches and religious institutions, according to Cruz’s office.

How would the bill specifically crack down on persecution?

• The U.S. Treasury and other government agencies would impose sanctions on Nigerian officials who enable violence against Christians and other religious minorities, whether by enforcing sharia and blasphemy laws or by turning a blind eye to violent jihadist groups. Sanctions would block the officials from transactions and accounts in the United States.

• The Secretary of State would designate Nigeria as a country of particular concern, and ensure that terrorists of the Boko Haram and the Islamic State group in West Africa remain designated as entities of particular concern. The designation refers to countries and groups that carry out systematic and egregious religious persecution, and it requires their activities to be reviewed annually.

Dig deeper: Read my report on Nigerian Anglicans’ response to the election of the new female Archbishop of Canterbury.