Why Nigeria Must Act Now or Face the Consequences: The Wake-Up Call of the U.S. Religious Freedom Accountability Bill 2025 -By James Ezema

In the corridors of Washington, the United States of America, a bill is moving that could redefine Nigeria’s relationship with the world—and force the country to confront the monsters it has long denied.

The Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025 (S. 2747), introduced in the U.S. Senate on September 9, 2025 by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), may appear to be just another foreign policy measure. Yet beneath its legislative language lies a damning moral verdict on Nigeria’s failure to protect its citizens from systematic religious violence, kidnapping, and lawless bloodshed.

If passed, the bill—now before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and mirrored by H.R. 5808 in the U.S. House of Representatives—will permanently designate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) for “systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.”

This is not a symbolic gesture. It carries the weight of sanctions, visa bans, asset freezes, and restrictions on U.S. military and development aid—a potential earthquake in Nigeria’s diplomatic and economic landscape.

A Law Rooted in Blood and Denial

The proposed law amends the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to compel U.S. authorities to target Nigerian officials—governors, judges, and security chiefs—who enforce blasphemy laws or tolerate religiously motivated violence. It also invokes the Global Magnitsky Act to sanction perpetrators of religious persecution and rights abuses.

The timing is significant. On October 31, 2025, President Donald Trump redesignated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern,” reviving a classification controversially dropped in 2021 by President Joe Biden.

According to data cited by the bill’s sponsors, over 125,000 Christians have been murdered since 2009, 52,000 churches destroyed, and 12 million people displaced. In just the first 220 days of 2025, 7,087 Christians were massacred—an average of 32 per day—while 7,800 others were abducted. These figures come from sources such as Intersociety, Open Doors World Watch List, Europarl.europa.eu, Christianity Today, and Newsweek.

Yet, as the bill and its supporting documents reveal, the crisis transcends Christianity. Moderate Muslims, ethnic minorities, and secular communities have also been targeted. Nearly 60,000 liberal Muslims have reportedly been killed since 2009 for rejecting extremist ideologies.
This isn’t a Christian war—it’s a Nigerian nightmare.

The Dangerous Culture of Denial

Despite overwhelming evidence, Nigeria’s political class remains trapped in a cycle of denial and deflection. Officials routinely dismiss reports of religious persecution as “exaggerated” or “Islamophobic.” They prefer euphemisms—banditry, farmer-herder clashes, or communal disputes—over acknowledging the religious motivations driving much of the violence that have claimed the lives of innocent Christians and non-radical Muslims in different parts of the country.

This denial is not only dishonest; it is dangerous. It ignores the blasphemy laws still enforced in twelve northern states, where individuals such as Yahaya Sharif-Aminu face death sentences for alleged insults to Islam. It erases the memory of Deborah Yakubu, lynched in 2022 by a mob in Sokoto.

By downplaying these atrocities, Nigerian leaders risk validating the narrative driving the U.S. legislation—that the government has tolerated or enabled religiously motivated killings. Worse still, such denial betrays the victims—the families of the slain, the kidnapped, and the displaced—whose pain has been met with silence and spin.

Kidnapping, Organ Harvesting, and a Nation at War with Itself

Religious persecution in Nigeria now intersects with a sprawling criminal economy built on kidnapping, ransom, and terror. Reports show over 7,800 faith-related abductions in 2025 alone. Kidnapping-for-ransom has become a multibillion-naira enterprise, often targeting clergy, schoolchildren, travelers, and farmers.

Emerging allegations of organ harvesting have deepened the horror, explaining why kidnap victims are killed even after ransom payments. Survivors recount abductions where victims vanish forever, and mass graves discovered in Kaduna and Plateau hint at an unspoken evil beneath the surface of Nigeria’s insecurity.

The massacres continue unchecked. In Yelwata, Benue State, 200 Christians were slaughtered in one night. In Sankera, Plateau State, 280 people were hacked to death in April. According to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), fewer than one percent of perpetrators of such atrocities ever face trial.

This is now an institutionalized impunity in the minds of the world and Nigeria must be intentional to change the narrative through a proven track of diligent prosecutions of perpetrators of violent crimes irrespective of their faith, tribe or social status and remaining proactive to avert further killings. The best proactive move is to begin immediate arrest of sponsors of violent crimes in all parts of Nigeria and deliberate policies to end poverty and youth unemployment.

Sanctions, Isolation, and the Cost of Inaction

If the U.S. bill passes, Nigeria could face a “public ledger of shame.” Each year, American agencies would publish lists of Nigerian officials sanctioned for complicity in religious persecution. Northern governors enforcing blasphemy laws could see their U.S. assets frozen. Security chiefs might face travel bans. U.S. arms deals and defense cooperation could be suspended under expanded Leahy Laws.

Meanwhile, the Leahy Laws are U.S. federal statutes that prohibit the American government from providing military assistance—such as training, weapons, or funding—to any foreign security force unit credibly accused of committing gross human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, torture, rape, or enforced disappearances. Named after Senator Patrick Leahy, these laws ensure that U.S. tax dollars do not support or equip abusive military or police units abroad. They apply separately through both the State Department and the Department of Defense, covering all forms of U.S.-funded security cooperation.

Under the Leahy framework, any unit found responsible for such abuses becomes ineligible for U.S. assistance until the government of that country takes effective steps to hold perpetrators accountable. The laws have frequently affected nations facing human rights scrutiny—including Nigeria, especially under the President Goodluck Jonathan administration, where U.S. support to certain army and police formations has been suspended due to alleged abuses during counterterrorism and internal security operations. In effect, the Leahy Laws represent Washington’s commitment to promoting accountability, human rights, and ethical security partnerships worldwide.

Therefore, the economic shock could be devastating. Nigeria currently receives more than $500 million annually in U.S. assistance. A CPC-driven cutoff would cripple humanitarian programs, counterterrorism efforts, and investor confidence—at a time when over 8,000 civilians have already been killed this year.

Diplomatically, Nigeria risks alienating its Western allies, potentially pushing it toward China or Russia, whose economic overtures often come with the price of silence on human rights.

A Path Forward: Reform, Not Retaliation

Nigeria must act now—honestly, decisively, and transparently. This is not the time for rhetoric but for reform.

First, the blasphemy laws in the twelve Sharia-implementing states must be repealed. They are unconstitutional under Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution and seen to violate the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Second, the government must prosecute perpetrators of violence—whether jihadists, militias, or complicit officials. The National Human Rights Commission should be strengthened and funded to investigate religiously motivated crimes. Special terrorism courts and intelligence-led prosecutions must replace the 1% conviction rate that has made impunity the norm in Nigeria since 2009.

Third, Nigeria must confront the root causes of radicalization—poverty, unemployment, corruption, and environmental stress—through equitable resource allocation and inclusive development. Interfaith peacebuilding, community policing, and cooperative security task forces involving both Christians and Muslims can rebuild trust in the Middle Belt and other conflict zones in the country.

The Nigerian government must also investigate kidnapping and suspected organ-harvesting networks using international forensic and intelligence cooperation. Transparency, not defensiveness, is the path to redemption.

Finally, Nigeria should engage Washington constructively—inviting USCIRF and independent monitors for fact-finding, co-authoring progress benchmarks, and providing verifiable evidence of improvement. Denial has only deepened distrust; openness could restore credibility.

From Denial to Deliverance

To Nigeria’s leaders and their defenders, let it be said clearly: denial is not defense; it is dereliction. Every time officials dismiss mass killings as “exaggerations,” they embolden the perpetrators and dishonour the dead.

And to the Nigerian people—Christians, Muslims, and traditionalists alike—this moment demands unity, not division. Petition your lawmakers, demand justice, and refuse to be silenced. As Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja warns, “Increased insecurity haunts our nation, but prayer and action sustain us.”

Let S. 2747 (Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025) be not our punishment, but our turning point. Let it force us to see what we have refused to see—the rivers of blood that have stained our soil.

If Nigeria acts now—with honesty, urgency, and compassion—it can avert sanctions and reclaim moral authority. But if we continue to deny the truth, the gavel of justice will fall, and we will have no one to blame but ourselves.

This is not about America imposing values. It is about Nigeria reclaiming its humanity. The world is watching. Will we act, or will we perish in denial? The choice is ours to make.

Comrade James Ezema is a journalist, blogger, political strategist, and public affairs analyst based in Abuja. He writes on governance, democracy, and human rights in Africa. He’s the President and National Coordinator of the Not Too Young To Perform (NTYTP) and can be reached via Email: jamesezema@gmail.com or WhatsApp: +234 8035823617