{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://rileymoore.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-moore-urges-secretary-state-designate-nigeria-country-particular", "Congressman Moore Urges Secretary of State to Designate Nigeria a \u201cCountry of Particular Concern\u201d Amid Rampant Christian Persecution", "2025-10-06", "2025", "2025-10", "Republican", "House", "WV", "Riley M. Moore", "M001235", "rileymoore.house.gov", "rileymoore", "https://rileymoore.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Congressman Riley Moore today sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling on the U.S. Department of State to redesignate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) due to the alarming and ongoing persecution of Christians across the country.\n\nIn his letter, Congressman Moore urged President Trump\u2019s administration to take \u201cimmediate action to address the systematic persecution and slaughter of Christians in Nigeria,\u201d highlighting the nation\u2019s growing reputation as \u201cthe deadliest place in the world to be a Christian.\u201d\n\nCongressman Moore\u2019s letter detailed that over 7,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria in 2025 alone\u2014an average of 35 per day\u2014with hundreds more kidnapped, tortured, or displaced by extremist groups such as Boko Haram. The Congressman also pointed to reports indicating that 19,100 Christian churches have been attacked or destroyed since 2009 and that elements of the Nigerian government may be complicit in the violence. Reports from Open Doors indicate that more Christians are killed every year in Nigeria than the rest of the world combined.\n\nThe Congressman noted that President Trump previously designated Nigeria as a CPC, a designation reversed under President Biden, and called on Secretary Rubio to restore the designation and suspend all U.S. arms sales and technical support to Nigeria until the government takes swift action to protect the persecuted.\n\nCongressman Moore issued the following statement:\n\n\u201cNigeria has become the deadliest place in the world to be a Christian. Just this year, a priest was kidnapped and murdered on Ash Wednesday and 54 Christians were martyred on Palm Sunday. 7,000 Christians have been martyred this year alone. More than 50,000 Christians have been murdered since 2009.\n\nThe United States cannot stand idly by while believers are slaughtered. We must acknowledge the religious nature of this scourge of anti-Christian violence from radical Islamic terrorists. It\u2019s time for the United States to defend our brothers and sisters in Christ, and designating Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern will provide the diplomatic levers to do just that. I urge Secretary Rubio to designate Nigeria as a CPC without delay.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-04-04T05:28:40Z", "2026-04-04T05:30:10Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://rileymoore.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-moore-urges-secretary-state-designate-nigeria-country-particular"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.318303868174553, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}