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By Chinelo Obogo
The United States government has said it will impose visa restrictions on Nigerians who support violence against Christians.
In a post made on his official X handle on Wednesday, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio said: “The United States is taking decisive action in response to the atrocities and violence against Christians in Nigeria and around the world. The State Department will restrict U.S. visas for those who knowingly direct, authorize, fund, support, or carry out violations of religious freedom. This visa policy applies to Nigeria and other governments or individuals that persecute people for their religious beliefs.”
Rubio’s statement comes after a joint briefing of House Appropriation and Foreign Affairs leaders which held on Tuesday as part of the congressional investigation into the escalating and targeted violence against Christians in Nigeria. The session was led by House Appropriations Vice Chair and National Security Subcommittee Chairman Mario Díaz-Balart and is feeding into a comprehensive report ordered by President Donald Trump on recent massacres of Nigerian Christians and potential policy steps the U.S. could take to pressure the Nigerian government to respond.
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Trump had directed Congress, led by Reps. Riley Moore and Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole to probe Christian persecution and genocide in Nigeria and produce a report for the White House to review.
At the press briefing, Vicky Hartzler, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom cited the abduction of more than 300 children and attacks in which “radical Muslims kill entire Christian villages and burn churches.” She said violations were rampant, violent, and disproportionately affect Christians who, she argued, were targeted at a 2.2 to 1 rate, compared with Muslims.
She said the Nigerian government has taken some initial corrective steps, including reassigning about police officers from VIP protection details but warned the country was entering a “coordinated and deeply troubling period of escalated violence.” She recommended targeted sanctions on Nigerian officials “who have demonstrated complicity,” visa restrictions, blocking U.S.-based assets, and conditioning foreign and humanitarian aid on measurable accountability.
