The United States House of Representatives will on Thursday hold a congressional hearing on the Nigerian government’s efforts to protect Christians and address insecurity in the country’s Middle Belt.

The hearing will be chaired by Republican lawmaker Chris Smith, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa.

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Smith’s office announced the session in a statement published on his official website on Monday, which was subsequently cited by PUNCH Online on Tuesday.

Titled One Year Later: Assessing Nigeria’s Efforts to Protect Christians and Secure the Middle Belt, the hearing will examine religious violence involving extremist groups, the Nigerian government’s response and measures to protect vulnerable communities.

According to Smith’s office, the session will assess what it described as religious violence perpetrated by radical Islamist groups, including Boko Haram and what the statement called “Fulani terrorists”, against Christians in Nigeria.

Lawmakers will also examine the Nigerian government’s efforts to address alleged persecution, hold perpetrators of atrocities accountable and protect Christian and non-radical Muslim communities.

The hearing will further consider measures the United States could take to ensure Nigerian authorities address and prevent what Smith’s office described as systemic violence against Christians and non-radical Muslims by Islamist extremists.

The session is scheduled to begin at 11am local time at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC, and will be streamed live on YouTube.

The first panel will feature two US State Department officials: 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 comprise 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.

Smith’s office described the session as his 14th congressional hearing on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

The hearing comes amid increased scrutiny of Nigeria’s security situation by US lawmakers and the administration of President Donald Trump.

In November 2025, Trump redesignated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern over alleged severe violations of religious freedom, following accusations that the Nigerian government had failed to adequately protect Christians from attacks.

Nigeria was first designated a Country of Particular Concern in December 2020 during Trump’s first administration.

However, the administration of former President Joe Biden removed the country from the list in November 2021, saying it no longer met the criteria for the designation.

The designation is made under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 and applies to countries the US government considers to have engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom.

The Nigerian government has repeatedly rejected descriptions of the country’s insecurity as primarily religious persecution.

It maintains that the violence is complex and involves terrorism, banditry, farmer-herder conflicts and other criminal activities affecting both Christian and Muslim communities.

Security cooperation between the two countries has also included US military action in Nigeria.

On December 25, 2025, the US military carried out strikes against Islamic State targets in north-western Nigeria.

Trump said the operation targeted militants responsible for attacks on Christians.

Studies of Nigeria’s security challenges have identified multiple sources of violence, including Islamist insurgency, farmer-herder conflict, banditry and other forms of criminal activity.

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Thursday’s hearing is expected to bring these competing perspectives and concerns before US lawmakers as they assess Nigeria’s efforts to address insecurity and protect religious communities.