By Daniel Kingsley
A Headline on the Punch Newspaper on Monday, the 3rd of November, 2025 "CPC blacklist: 12 Nigerian governors, other officials may face US sanctions" has really captured my attention.
On Friday, Trump, in a post on Truth, lamented that thousands of Christians were being killed in Nigeria and asked Congressman Riley Moore, together with Chairman Tom Cole and the House Appropriations Committee, to immediately look into the matter and report back to him.
The Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, sponsored by Republican Senator Ted Cruz, 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
Trump is simply saying there are killings in Nigeria, which is true.
Stop it, and that ends it.
Under whatever bill it may be, Trump is right and it is long overdue.
For quite some time now, the people of Nigeria, particularly the vulnerable, have series of attacks, killings, kidnappings, raping, maiming and their cattle rustled due to negligence of our leaders, especially the governors who deceive people during their electioneering campaigns to bring an end to the massacre of their citizens, but without any tangible efforts or evidence to show the fulfillment of these campaign promises.
Rather, these governors concentrate on looting the public Treasuries purchasing mansions in various locations both within and outside our fatherland, leaving the citizens in abject poverty, hunger, diseases, illiteracy and inaccessible clean drinking water.
I am so much delighted by the Trump's action in sanctioning these types of governors and officials of government perpetrating these crimes, while bandits and terrorists continue to massacre their people in their hundreds.
These Twelve northern governors, prominent traditional rulers, and senior judges are at the centre 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 what American lawmakers describe as a “Christian genocide” and systemic persecution under Nigeria’s sharia and blasphemy laws.
It is against this background the I strongly call on the US President Donald Trump to focus his mission on those governors, particularly in northern Nigeria where insecurity is in its highest peak.
I will also want to draw Trump's attention to reality on ground, as it is not religious persecution, but rather neglect and carelessness of these governors, amidst high level corruption.
Zamfara state for instance, the Gov, Dauda Lawal promised the people that he would tackle insecurity bedivelling the state, immediately he assumed office if elected as governor of the state, but two years on, the situation became the worst ever.
Gov Dauda Lawal who was a brother In-laws to the US Christmas bomber now serving 4 live improvement sentences should be put under watch by the Trump administration. Several None- governmental organisations and human rights agencies had severally called on the US government to investigate Dauda Lawal, as he was accused of helping the Christmas bomber to escape legal action after he was arrested for the terrorism offence in the US.
Now that he is a Gov in one the northern Nigerian states with high magnitude of banditry, he is also being accused of hiring repentant Boko Haram terrorists and equips them with sophisticated weapons, killing innocent citizens should be sanctioned by the United States government.
How long will we continue to pretend not to see? How long will we bury our heads in the sand while innocent lives are snuffed out in broad daylight?
This conspiracy of silence is not just dangerous, also deadly. The blood of our fellow Nigerians cries out from the soil, in Zamfara, Katsina, Borno, Plateau, Benue, Ondo, Madalla, the figure and facts are on record, yet we continue to act like all is well.
Every Nigerian regardless of tribe, religion, or region deserves equal protection, equal dignity, and the fundamental right to exist. These are not privileges, but are non-negotiable rights.
Now that we have the attention of the United States government, It is time for the Nigerian government to stop the charade. No more empty speeches. No more denial. No more games.
The massacre of citizens must end. The people must not be displaced from their ancestral homes for any guise whatsoever.
Leadership is not about optics, it is about action. Rise to your responsibility. Protect your people. Silence the guns, not the truth.
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.
The affected states include Zamfara, Kano, Sokoto, Katsina, Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa, Kebbi, Yobe, Kaduna, Niger, and Gombe.
The Nigerian government should just take advantage of this opportunity and stamp its foot to correct where there is wrong; stamp its foot to speak the language of unity, stamp its foot to tell those who have been hiding under religion to torment fellow citizens that they no longer have a space in Nigeria.
“Boko Haram and ISWAP remain proscribed under the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, with thousands of arrests, prosecutions, and deradicalisation programmes underway,” it added.
The government said many attacks often framed internationally as “religious” were instead rooted in terrorism, organised crime, resource conflict, and climate stress, adding that federal and state authorities deployed joint operations without bias to faith identity.
“Nigerian authorities consistently condemn sectarian violence, open investigations, and prosecute offenders where evidence meets the legal threshold,” the document stressed.
Nigeria reaffirmed its adherence to international human rights obligations, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, domesticated and enforceable in Nigerian courts.
The government emphasised that all domestic laws, federal or state, must conform to these superior guarantees, and Nigerian courts have consistently upheld that principle in their judgments.
The government criticised the US draft legislation proposing a CPC designation for Nigeria, describing it as “legally and factually flawed.”
In designating Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern,” Trump cited alleged severe violations of religious freedom, particularly the persecution of Christians. He claimed that Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria, with thousands of Christians being killed by radical Islamists.
Trump warned that the US would take action, including potential military intervention, if Nigeria didn’t address the issue.
The US President also threatened to halt all aid and assistance to Nigeria should the Tinubu administration fail to end the alleged persecution and killing of Christians.
Daniel Kingsley is a Public and Security Affairs Commentator, based in Lagos - Nigeria
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