Trump: Nigeria Designated "Country of Particular Concern" As 7,000 Christians Killed in 2025
Washington, D.C. - President Donald Trump announced on October 31, 2025, that he is designating Nigeria a "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC) due to severe violations of religious freedom and the ongoing slaughter of Christians by radical Islamist terrorists.
"Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria," Trump said in a post on Truth Social as he arrived at Mar-a-Lago. "Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a 'COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN.'"
Trump continued: "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! I am asking Congressman Riley Moore, together with Chairman Tom Cole and the House Appropriations Committee, 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. We stand ready, willing, and able to save our Great Christian population around the World!"
Under the International Religious Freedom Act 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.
More than 7,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria in 2025 alone, an average of 35 per day, with hundreds more kidnapped, tortured, or displaced by extremist groups such as Boko Haram, ISIS West Africa, and Fulani militants. Since 2009, more than 52,000 Christians have been killed and over 20,000 churches attacked and destroyed in Nigeria.
"Christians are being persecuted and killed in Nigeria for professing their faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ," Moore posted on X. "The killings must stop. That's why I'm urging @SecRubio to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern. We must use every diplomatic tool to end this horrific slaughter of our brothers and sisters in Christ."
Christian leaders delivered a letter to Trump on October 15 signed by 30 U.S. Christian leaders urging the CPC designation. The letter stated that 52,000 Christians have been killed since 2009, and "over 100 Christian pastors and Catholic priests have been taken hostage for ransom."
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced legislation in September requiring the Trump administration to adopt the CPC designation in addition to imposing targeted sanctions against Nigerian government officials who facilitate or permit jihadist attacks against Christians. Republican Senators Ted Budd of North Carolina, Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, Josh Hawley of Missouri, and James Lankford of Oklahoma endorsed redesignating Nigeria in a September 12 letter to Secretary Rubio.
Since President Bola Tinubu took office in 2023, more than 10,000 people have been killed, hundreds have been abducted, and more than 3 million people have been displaced from their homes. Security conditions have deteriorated particularly in the north, which is predominantly Muslim.
Congressman Moore celebrated Trump's decision, stating: "Nigeria has become the deadliest place in the world to be a Christian. Just this year, a priest was kidnapped and murdered on Ash Wednesday and 54 Christians were martyred on Palm Sunday. 7,000 Christians have been martyred this year alone. More than 52,000 Christians have been murdered since 2009. The United States cannot stand idly by while believers are slaughtered. We must acknowledge the religious nature of this scourge of anti-Christian violence from radical Islamic terrorists."
Senator Ted Cruz released a statement: "I am deeply gratified to President Trump for making this determination. I have fought for years to counter the slaughter and persecution of Christians in Nigeria, and this year introduced legislation that will lock in the designation made today."
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK), Vice Chair Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL), and Moore released a joint statement: "Nigeria is the most dangerous nation on Earth to follow Christ. For simply practicing their faith, Christians are actively being kidnapped, attacked, and slaughtered. With President Trump announcing he will be redesignating Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, the United States is making clear in one resolute voice: religious persecution will not be tolerated."
International Christian Concern President Shawn Wright welcomed the news: "We are deeply grateful for this important recognition. It represents a significant step toward mobilizing the global community to confront the atrocities that have devastated so many families and communities in Nigeria."
THE CRUSADER'S OPINION
Finally. A president who calls genocide what it is.
Seven thousand Christians slaughtered in ten months. Thirty-five murdered every single day. Pastors beheaded. Churches burned. Women raped. And Biden lifted the CPC designation in 2021 because... why exactly? While Christians bled, America looked away. Trump just changed that.
The numbers are staggering: 52,000 dead since 2009. One hundred pastors kidnapped. Twenty thousand churches destroyed.
This is not sectarian violence or ethnic conflict. This is Islamic jihad targeting believers for their faith in Christ, and Trump had the courage to say it plainly: "Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter."
Nigeria is the deadliest nation on Earth for Christians. Not North Korea.
Not Afghanistan. Nigeria. More Christians die there annually than the rest of the world combined.
Bishop Anagbe testified before Congress that Nigerian Christians face "Islamist extermination." Months later, jihadists proved him right by massacring his family. This designation is long overdue and desperately needed.
TAKE ACTION
Support Nigerian Christians:
- International Christian Concern: https://persecution.org
- Phone: 1-800-422-5441
Contact Your Representatives:
- Support the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act
- Email Congress: https://www.congress.gov/contact-us
Humanitarian Aid:
- Open Doors USA (Nigeria): https://www.opendoorsus.org
- Phone: 1-888-524-2535
Pray and Advocate:
- Voice of the Martyrs: https://vom.com
- Email: thevoice@vom.org
