The United States House of Representatives is set to hold a congressional hearing on Nigeria’s efforts to protect Christians and address insecurity in the Middle Belt.
The hearing, scheduled for Thursday, November 12, will be led by Republican lawmaker Chris Smith and focus on the Nigerian government’s response to religious violence and insecurity.
According to a statement issued by Smith’s office on Monday, the session is titled, “One Year Later: Assessing Nigeria’s Efforts to Protect Christians and Secure the Middle Belt.”
It will begin at 11am at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC.
The statement said the hearing would examine attacks allegedly carried out by radical Islamist groups, including Boko Haram and armed groups identified in the statement as Fulani terrorists, against Christians in Nigeria.
It will also assess the Nigerian government’s efforts to stop the violence, bring those responsible to justice and protect Christian and moderate Muslim communities.
The statement added that lawmakers would consider steps the United States could take to ensure Nigerian officials address and prevent religious violence.
The first panel will feature Frank Garcia, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, and Riley Barnes, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour.
The second panel will include Nina Shea, senior fellow and director of the Centre for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute; Ryan Brown, chief executive officer of Open Doors US; and Oge Onubogu, director and senior fellow of the Africa Programme at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
The hearing will be streamed live on YouTube.
The session will be Smith’s 14th congressional hearing focused exclusively on Nigeria.
In November 2025, he chaired a hearing following President Donald Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” over religious freedom issues.
He also chaired a congressional hearing in May 2016 on the United States’ role in helping Nigeria confront Boko Haram and other security threats in the northern part of the country.
