Abuja — December 7, 2025 | Dalena Reporters
A high-level delegation of United States lawmakers and diplomats landed in Nigeria on Sunday to conduct a security-focused fact-finding mission, signalling growing international concern over alleged widespread persecution and killings of Christians across the country.
The delegation led by members of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee including Riley Moore met with top Nigerian security officials, including the country’s National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu and the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Richard Mills.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Riley Moore said he came “in the name of the Lord and on behalf of the American people” underscoring the delegation’s concern over reports of targeted violence against Christian communities.
The U.S. visit comes amid mounting pressure from Congress: just days earlier, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee had declared that Nigeria is “rapidly becoming one of the most dangerous places on Earth to follow Christ,” citing what it described as escalating, targeted attacks on Christians.
The fact-finding mission could influence U.S. foreign policy toward Nigeria, including possible sanctions, visa restrictions for perpetrators of religious-based violence, and reassessment of aid steps advocated by several lawmakers if credible evidence of systematic persecution is found.
However, the trip also stirs tension: Nigerian lawmakers have already moved to counter what they describe as mischaracterisation of the country’s security challenges, forming a 12-member Senate panel to produce a position paper rejecting claims of state-backed “Christian genocide.
As the delegation tours conflict zones, displaced-person sites and meets civil-society actors, many observers will watch closely to see if the mission yields concrete, independently verifiable data or further deepens an already fraught diplomatic standoff.