Friday, November 7, 2025 - A new bill which seeks to impose sanctions and other restrictions on individuals and bodies allegedly responsible for violation of religious freedom in Nigeria, has been introduced to the US Congress
The bill identifies Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association
of Nigeria (MACBAN) and Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore as entities to be sanctioned.
Both organizations have been accused by some Nigerians in the
past of masterminding some attacks by armed herders on rural communities.
However, they have denied such allegations and instead said
their members, who are cattle herders, were being attacked in different states.
The new US bill recommends that the US Department of State
and the Department of the Treasury impose a visa ban, asset freeze, and other
restrictive measures as punishment for the alleged violations.
It recommended that the sanctions be imposed under the Global
Magnitsky framework, a system of laws that allows the US government to target
foreign individuals or entities involved in human rights abuses or corruption
anywhere in the world.
A Republican member of the US House of Representatives,
Christopher Smith, introduced the bill on Tuesday, stating that Islamic terror organizations
have carried out mass m8rder, r3pe, and kidnappings against mostly Christians
and non-Fulani moderate Muslim populations.
These atrocities, he noted, have resulted in mass
displacement and destruction of places of worship.
He argued that these actions seem to be part of a deliberate
plan to create a Fulani-controlled empire.
“Whereas prominent Christian and Muslim leaders have been
kidnapped or assassinated, including priests, pastors, and imams who advocate
for religious tolerance,” he said.
Commending President Trump for redesignating Nigeria a
Country of Particular Concern, Mr Smith declared that northern Nigeria has
“seen the destruction of over 18,000 churches since 2009’’ in attacks by Boko
Haram militants, Fulani herdsmen, and others, according to a 2023 Vatican
report.
“Whereas an August 2024 report from the Observatory of
Religious Freedom in Africa found that approximately 56,000 people died in
attacks and about 22,000 people were abducted by terror groups in Nigeria
between October 2019 and September 2023.
“President Trump acted appropriately and decisively to
redesignate Nigeria as a CPC and hold the Nigerian government accountable for
its complicity in religious persecution by radical Islamists, such as Boko
Haram and Fulani terrorists,” he said.
The bill must be passed by both houses of the US Congress and
signed by President Donald Trump to become law.
Some previously designated EPCs include Boko Haram, the
Houthis, ISIS-Sahel, ISIS-West Africa, and the Taliban.
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