US religious freedom commission names Nigeria its top priority amid rising Christian persecution

Asif Mahmood, the newly appointed chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), said Nigeria would be his top focus, citing ongoing violence against Christian communities. The commission’s 2026 report highlighted attacks, kidnappings and mass killings, such as the June 5, 2022 assault on a church in Owo that left dozens dead.

Human‑rights groups, including Portas Abertas, documented further atrocities in 2026, citing the case of Sabina David, who survived an armed kidnapping in which her husband was killed and several of her children died before she and another woman escaped. Thousands of Christians have been displaced, with many families lacking food, shelter and medical care. The United States previously designated Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” for systematic religious‑freedom violations, a status reaffirmed in the latest USCIRF findings.

Mahmood urged the Nigerian government to halt tolerance of non‑state actors and to protect vulnerable communities, stressing the need for concrete improvements such as the recovery of kidnapping victims.