US insists Nigeria must remain Country of Particular Concern over ‘Christian genocide’

The United States government has insisted that Nigeria should retain its Country of Particular Concern, CPC, designation, saying the country has not done enough to protect Christians from attacks.

Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Frank Garcia, made this statement on Thursday during a congressional hearing on violence in Nigeria.

Garcia was responding to questions from US Congressman Riley Moore, who asked about the government’s efforts to dismantle militia strongholds and kidnapping camps in the Middle Belt, particularly in Benue and Plateau states.

Moore also raised concerns over the exclusion of the states from the forest guard initiative and delays in deploying 1,000 approved guards to Plateau.

Before Garcia could answer, Moore warned that the CPC designation must not be removed.

“Before you answer that, we cannot take this CPC designation off of this country. They have not done enough,” Moore said.

Garcia acknowledged the lack of progress, but said Nigeria was taking steps to address the concerns, although they had yet to produce results.

He said the country’s security capacity was still being developed and that deployments were not happening fast enough.

“Unfortunately, the violence has not stopped,” Garcia added, citing continued attacks in Kaduna and Plateau states.

He said the US had provided police training and equipment, expanded intelligence sharing and worked with Nigerian financial institutions to disrupt terrorist financing.

Garcia added that Washington would continue diplomatic engagements and security cooperation to protect vulnerable communities and ensure accountability.

However, the Nigerian government has consistently rejected claims of a “Christian genocide” or targeted religious persecution, maintaining that insecurity affects Nigerians of all faiths.