Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, recently introduced legislation that would protect religious freedom by imposing sanctions on Nigerian officials who enable persecution of Christians and religious minorities in the country.
The legislation, known as the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, is a response to ongoing religious persecution in the country, largely driven by Islamic militant groups. As CatholicVote has reported, Nigeria is one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a Christian, with violent and deadly attacks regularly occurring against Christians.
“Nigerian Christians are being targeted and executed for their faith by Islamist terrorist groups, and are being forced to submit to sharia law and blasphemy laws across Nigeria,” Cruz stated in a press release. “ It is long past time to impose real costs on the Nigerian officials who facilitate these activities.”
According to the release, jihadists in Nigeria have killed more than 52,000 Christians and destroyed more than 20,000 Christian churches or religious institutions since 2009. The release also highlighted the June 13 attack on a Nigerian village, which left more than 200 Christians dead.
The release stated that 12 state governments enforce Islamic sharia law, including blasphemy laws, and added that the Nigerian federal government also criminalizes blasphemy.
The legislation would impose sanctions “against Nigerian officials who facilitate violence against Christians and other religious minorities, including by Islamist terrorist groups” and sanction officials who enforce sharia and blasphemy laws.
The legislation would also require US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC). As CatholicVote previously reported, Nigeria had been added to the CPC list in 2020 during President Donald Trump’s first term; however, former Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, under the Biden administration, removed the designation in 2021. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., has urged Congress to once again declare Nigeria as a CPC.
According to the release, the legislation would additionally require Rubio to ensure that ISIS-West Africa and the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram remain designated as Entities of Particular Concern.
