The United States House of Representatives has introduced a new bill seeking to hold Nigerian government officials accountable for alleged human rights abuses and violations of religious freedom.
The proposed law, known as the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, was presented by Marlin Stutzman, a Republican representative from Indiana’s 3rd District, on October 21, 2025. According to information available on the official U.S. Congress website, the bill has been forwarded to both the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Judiciary Committee for further review.
Filed as H.R. 5808 in the 119th Congress, the bill mandates the U.S. President to enforce sanctions under Executive Order 13818, which targets individuals involved in serious human rights violations or corruption. The proposed law requires the U.S. Secretary of State to submit a yearly report to Congress listing Nigerian officials implicated in promoting or tolerating religious persecution.
The report is expected to cover federal officials, state governors, and other authorities who have enacted or supported Nigeria’s blasphemy laws or ignored violent acts carried out under religious pretexts. It will also include judges, magistrates, and law enforcement officers accused of using such laws to detain or prosecute individuals. The reporting period spans ten years before the bill’s enactment and will continue annually.
The legislation also reaffirms Nigeria’s status as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) under U.S. law—a designation that makes countries eligible for sanctions over grave violations of religious freedom. It further identifies Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa as “Entities of Particular Concern” (EPC) for their roles in religiously motivated violence.
If passed, the law will compel the U.S. government to impose sanctions—such as visa bans and asset freezes—on Nigerian officials and groups linked to religious persecution or failure to curb violence motivated by faith. This could lead to increased diplomatic tension between Washington and Abuja.
The move comes amid growing pressure from American lawmakers who have accused Nigerian authorities of enabling or overlooking attacks on Christians and other religious minorities. A similar bill introduced in the U.S. Senate by Republican Senator Ted Cruz earlier in September also seeks to impose direct sanctions on governors, judges, and traditional rulers accused of complicity in religiously motivated violence.
Additionally, another congressional resolution recently recommended sanctions on groups such as the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, and Fulani militias operating in central Nigerian states, citing their alleged roles in attacks against civilians.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump had also declared Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern,” urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to take swift action to address the situation and calling for reports on killings of Christians in the country.
The Nigerian government, however, has maintained that the allegations are based on misinformation, insisting that security challenges in the country affect both Christians and Muslims and are not motivated by religion.