By Jack Phillips

The U.S. Department of State on Monday designated Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” following President Donald Trump’s warning that he could deploy military assets to the West African country over the persecution of Christians.

In a notice, the department noted that Trump on Oct. 31 designated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern,” described as a nation that has “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom.”

As of late 2023, the State Department has included the Nigeria-based Islamist terror group Boko Haram as an entity of particular concern along with multiple ISIS and al-Qaeda groups. The Taliban, Afghanistan’s governing body, is on that list as well.

Trump had designated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” in December 2020 in his first term as president—a designation that the Biden administration reversed in 2021, despite reports from organizations such as Open Doors that said thousands of Christians were being murdered by Islamic militants.

“In 2021, more Christians were murdered for their faith in Nigeria than in any other country,” Open Doors said, citing the World Watch List of 2022. “[In 2021], Nigeria accounted for nearly 80% of Christian deaths worldwide, with more than 4,650 believers killed.”

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) issued a statement on Nov. 3 praising the Trump administration’s decision to place Nigeria back on the list.

“In addition to the tragic violence at the hands of nonstate actors, the United States must also hold the Nigerian government accountable for allowing the enforcement of blasphemy laws in 12 states,” USCIRF Vice Chair Asif Mahmood said in the statement.

“Enforcing these laws and tolerating violence targeting Christians, Muslims, and other communities justify the CPC designation, now the administration can use this opportunity to impose Presidential Actions under the International Religious Freedom Act to incentivize needed change in the country.”

USCIRF Chair Vicky Hartzler said in the statement that the administration “can now develop a tough plan with Nigeria to ensure that perpetrators of violence are held to account, people of faith are protected, and those held hostage are rescued.”

The USCIRF, a federal agency, noted that terrorists killed at least 27 people in Nigeria’s Katsina state in an attack on a mosque. Other nongovernmental organizations have said that terrorist groups, namely Boko Haram, have killed more than 50,000 Christians in Nigeria since 2009.

Other countries of concern on the State Department’s list include China, Cuba, North Korea, Eritrea, Burma (also known as Myanmar), Nicaragua, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan.

Algeria, Azerbaijan, the Central African Republic, Comoros, and Vietnam are listed as “special watch list” countries. Those were all designated as of late December 2023, or under the previous administration.

Trump, over the weekend, said that the Nigerian government was not doing enough to protect Christians from violence. He also told the Pentagon on Saturday to prepare for potential military activities in Nigeria and warned that he may cut off foreign aid.

In response to Trump’s statement, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu disputed assertions that Christians were being persecuted in his country.

“The characterization of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality, nor does it take into consideration the consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians,” he said in a lengthy Nov. 1 post on X.