A bipartisan congressional briefing on the purported persecution of Christians in Nigeria is scheduled for Tuesday, according to the United States House Appropriations Committee.
Congressman Riley Moore announced on Tuesday that Mario Díaz-Balart, the chairman of the National Security Subcommittee and vice chair of the Appropriations Committee, will chair the meeting in Washington.
Key Appropriators and members of the Foreign Affairs and Financial Services panels will attend the closed-briefing session scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, according to committee representatives.
Officials of the committee announced that officials from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, as well as independent security and faith-based experts, will submit evidence during the session.
Briefing organisers stated that testimony from the roundtable will form the backbone of a detailed dossier being developed for the White House.
The roundtable will collect testimony for a thorough report “directed by President Trump on the massacre of Nigerian Christians and the steps Congress can take to support the White House’s efforts to protect vulnerable faith communities worldwide.”
Meanwhile, the briefing is being held at a time when the governments of Nigeria and the United States are boosting up security collaboration, following high-level talks held in Washington.
It was claimed that President Bola Tinubu recently accepted Nigeria’s delegation to the US-Nigeria Joint Working Group, which was formed from security agreements reached during discussions headed by Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.
Nigeria’s team includes senior ministries, intelligence chiefs, and defence officials tasked with strengthening counterterrorism operations, intelligence sharing, border security, and cooperation around humanitarian and civilian safety concerns.
