President Donald Trump
By John Egie
12 northern governors, prominent traditional rulers, and senior judges are at the center of a looming diplomatic storm as the United States Congress considers a bill that could impose far reaching sanctions on them over alleged complicity in Christian genocide and systematic persecution under Sharia and blasphemy laws.
This is in the wake of designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern by President Donald Trump of the United States,
President Trump, last Friday, had lamented that thousands of Christians were being killed in Nigeria and asked Congressman Riley Moore, together with Tom Cole and the House Appropiations Committee to immediately look into the matter and report back to him.
Consequently, Republican Senator, Ted Cruz has proposed a bill, Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act 2025, which designates Nigeria as a ‘ Country of Particular Concern’, for religious persecution.
The bill proposes direct sanctions against public officials and religious authorities accused of promoting or tolerating violence against Christians and other religious minorities.
Under the bill, introduced on September 9, 2025, the US Secretary of State will, within 90 days of its passage, submit a report to Congress listing Nigerian officials, including governors, judges and monarchs who have promoted, enacted or maintained blasphemy laws or tolerated violence by non-state actors invoking religious justifications.
The sanctions, to be implemented under Executive Order 13818, the US Government’s Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability framework, could result in visa bans, asset freezes, and financial restrictions for those found culpable.
Sharia is derived from Islamic jurisprudence and has long existed as a system of personal, moral and communal regulation among Muslim communities in Northern Nigeria.
In the year 2000, several northern states beginning with Zamfara under Governor Ahmad Sani Yerima expanded Sharia’s jurisdiction to include criminal law and public morality.
By 2002, 12 northen states had adopted similar Sharia-based penal codes and established parallel Sharia courts alongside existing secular courts.
The states are: Zamfara, Kano, Sokoto, Kastina, Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa and Kebbi. Others are:Yobe, Kaduna, Niger and Gombe.
Other seven northern states: Kwara, Kogi, Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba and Adamawa with significant Muslim population still operate under the conventional secular legal system with Sharia limited only to personal status, matters such marriage, inheritance, and family issues for Muslim, rather than criminal or public law.
Cruz while defending the bill, said Nigeria’s leadership had institutionalised Sharia law and enabled Jihadist violence.
For him, religious persecution and violence against Christians and other religious minorities in Nigeria is endemic and over 52, 000 Christians have been murdered, 20,000 churches and faith institutions have been destroyed and dozens of villages wiped out.
“The Federal and state governments have failed to act, and in many cases, they are complicit, ” Senator Cruz said.
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