The United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, under the leadership of Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ), will convene a high-level congressional hearing on Thursday, November 12, to scrutinize Nigeria’s security situation and evaluate federal efforts to safeguard targeted Christian communities in the Middle Belt.
​The session, titled “One Year Later: Assessing Nigeria’s Efforts to Protect Christians and Secure the Middle Belt,” marks the 14th hearing chaired by Smith addressing religious freedom and sectarian violence in the West African nation.
The proceedings will focus on the ongoing violence driven by radical non-state armed groups, including Boko Haram and extremist Fulani militants, who continue to destabilize rural agricultural communities across the region.
​Scheduled for 11:00 AM EST in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C., the hearing will be open to the public and broadcast live globally via the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s digital streaming portal.
​Lawmakers are expected to review the Nigerian government’s judicial track record in prosecuting perpetrators, evaluate current security deployments, and consider potential U.S. diplomatic mechanisms to encourage greater accountability.
In a pre-hearing statement, Smith emphasized that Washington must ensure Nigerian authorities implement concrete, systemic measures to halt the violence and protect vulnerable populations.
​The committee will receive testimony across two key panels of experts and government officials. The initial panel will feature testimony from U.S. Department of State representatives, including Frank Garcia, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs, and Riley Barnes, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
A second panel of civil society leaders and foreign policy analysts will follow, featuring Nina Shea, Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute; Ryan Brown, Chief Executive Officer of Open Doors US; and Oge Onubogu, Director and Senior Fellow of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
