Christian World | A US State Department official told a House hearing that violence against Christians in Nigeria's Middle Belt has not stopped a year after its CPC designation

ACW | November 13, 2026 — Violence against Christian communities in Nigeria "has not stopped," Frank Garcia, the State Department's assistant secretary for African affairs, told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Thursday, Nov. 12.

The Africa subcommittee hearing, chaired by Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., was titled "One Year Later: Assessing Nigeria's Efforts to Protect Christians and Secure the Middle Belt." No Nigerian government official was on the witness list.

In written testimony, Garcia cited a July 27 attack on a Christian community in Kaduna state and attacks in Plateau state in August and September that he said killed dozens. He called the violence "an ongoing atrocity."

He said a senior State Department official had told a joint US-Nigeria working group that "this pace is insufficient." Garcia said the US has trained and equipped police in the Middle Belt and finalized a plan to disrupt networks financing attacks on churches.

Open Doors US chief executive Ryan Brown testified that about 10,928 Christian civilians and 1,919 Muslim civilians were killed in North Central Nigeria from October 2019 to September 2025, citing the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa.

Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., told the hearing that "steps are not results," EWTN News reported. Nigeria's government has not responded publicly to the hearing.

Background: President Donald Trump designated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern for religious freedom on Oct. 31, 2025, citing violence against Christian communities, Garcia said. Earlier, a Nigerian bishop said the government lacks the will to end attacks in Benue.

Why it matters: Nigeria's Middle Belt "has become the epicenter of violence affecting Christian communities," Brown told lawmakers, keeping freedom of religion or belief in Nigeria at the center of US foreign policy debate.

ACW will continue to follow this story.

Sources: House Foreign Affairs Committee — official hearing page; Written testimony of Frank Garcia; Written testimony of Ryan Brown (Open Doors US); EWTN News — hearing report

Photo: Official portrait of Rep. Chris Smith, Africa subcommittee chair (Office of Rep. Chris Smith)