As the US Congress considers a bill to impose sanctions on 12 northern governors, traditional rulers, and senior judges accused of complicity in what US lawmakers describe as “Christian genocide” and religious persecution under Nigeria’s Sharia and blasphemy laws, a significant diplomatic dispute is developing between Nigeria and the US.
The move comes after US President Donald Trump recently declared Nigeria to be a “Country of Particular Concern (CPC)” due to alleged systematic breaches of religious freedom.
Trump bemoaned the “mass killing of Christians” in Nigeria in a post on Truth Social on Friday. He also instructed Congressman Riley Moore, Chairman Tom Cole, and the House Appropriations Committee to look into the matter and get back to him very once.
In Nigeria, Christians are being murdered in the thousands. This mass murder is the work of radical Islamists. Trump declared, “America cannot stand by while these atrocities go on.
The Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, a bill supported by Republican Senator Ted Cruz, is at the center of the dispute.
The bill proposes direct punishments against governmental officials and religious authorities who are suspected of encouraging or condoning attacks on Christians and other religious minorities, and it officially names Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.
A list of Nigerian officials, including governors, judges, and monarchs, who have “promoted, enacted, or maintained blasphemy laws” or “tolerated violence by non-state actors invoking religious justification” must be submitted by the US Secretary of State within ninety days of the bill’s passage.
Under Executive Order 13818, the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability framework, those designated may be subject to fines, asset freezes, and visa prohibitions.
Northern States of Interest
The measure targets states that have implemented Sharia-based penal codes, starting with Zamfara State in 1999 under the leadership of then-Governor Ahmad Sani Yerima.
Eleven additional northern states—Kano, Sokoto, Katsina, Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa, Kebbi, Yobe, Kaduna, Niger, and Gombe—adopted comparable Sharia legal systems within two years.
The system created parallel Islamic courts alongside secular ones, extending Sharia’s jurisdiction beyond personal and family law to criminal and public morality.
States like Kwara, Kogi, Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba, and Adamawa, on the other hand, continue to follow conventional law and limit Sharia to private affairs like marriage, inheritance, and family issues.
When the Supreme Council for Sharia recently revealed plans to open offices in the southern Nigerian states of Oyo and Ogun, tensions erupted.
Before the council explained that the goal was to create arbitration panels for Muslim-related problems rather than official Sharia courts, the news caused public outcry and confrontations between Muslim and Christian groups.
Senator Cruz accused Nigerian authorities of institutionalizing discriminatory legislation and ignoring acts of religious violence when defending the bill before the Senate.
“Religious persecution and violence against Christians and other minorities is endemic in Nigeria,” he declared.
More than 52,000 Christians have been killed since 2009, 20,000 churches and other places of worship have been demolished, and some villages have been completely destroyed. Both the federal and state governments have been complicit in numerous cases and have failed to take action.
The senator claimed that since Sharia law was put into effect in 2000, extremist organizations have gained confidence and persecution under the pretense of Islamic morality has become legal.
Nigeria’s blasphemy laws, which are found in almost all northern legal systems, are also criticized in the proposed US legislation.
States like Kano, Bauchi, Sokoto, and Katsina have garnered international attention for executing people for alleged blasphemy, including cases involving kids and musicians who are charged with “insulting Islam.”
