By Abiola Olawale
A United States Senator, Ted Cruz, is set to intensify the pressure on the Nigerian government, announcing plans to name specific officials he alleges are complicit in or turning a blind eye to the Christian genocide in the country.
This move comes on the heels of the recent decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to once again designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for “severe violations of religious freedom.”
Cruz, championing the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, a bill designed to protect Christians and other religious minorities from widespread persecution in Nigeria, thanked Trump for the designation and for “fighting to stop the murder of Christians in Nigeria.”
According to Cruz, the next step is to hold Nigerian officials accountable, promising to publicly identify them in the coming weeks.
His post reads: “I’ve been pushing legislation to designate Nigeria a CPC and to impose sanctions on the Nigerian officials responsible.
“Thank you to President Trump for his leadership in imposing the designation, and more broadly, for fighting to stop the murder of Christians in Nigeria.
“Now we should take the next step and hold Nigerian officials accountable. I intend to be very explicit about who they are in the coming days and weeks.”
The New Diplomat reports that the development comes after Trump declared Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” over alleged killings of Christians.
In a statement posted on his social media platform Truth Social on Friday, Trump said Christianity faces an existential threat in Nigeria, describing the alleged killing as a “mass slaughter.”
“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter,” he wrote.
