US lawmaker, Pramila Jayapal, has wondered under which authority the country would strike in Nigeria based on President Donald Trump’s recently threatened military action.
Jayapal expressed the worry when the US House Subcommittee on Africa on Thursday opened a public hearing to review Trump’s recent redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.
The hearing, which began at 5pm in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building and streamed live online, was chaired by Representative Chris Smith.
As ‘The Punch’ reports, the lawmakers gathered to assess the potential consequences of the designation, which, if affirmed by the Senate, could clear the way for sanctions against Nigerian officials found complicit in religious persecution.
The CPC status could also limit certain categories of US bilateral assistance.
Two panels appeared before the subcommittee, comprising senior US State Department officials and Nigerian religious leaders.
During the session, Representative Pramila Jayapal warned against framing Nigeria’s violence as targeting only one religious group.
“But I appreciate that people have also recognised it isn’t just the persecution of Christians. This is persecution of multiple groups. And I think we have to be careful not to portray it just as persecution of Christians.
“That feels to me simplistic, and it doesn’t account for the intersectional diversity of Nigeria,” she said.
Citing research on drivers of conflict in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, Jayapal added that violence had affected both Christians and Muslims alike.
She also expressed concern over Trump’s response to a televised report.
“I’m very concerned that a day after President Trump saw a clip on Fox News about the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, he threatened to go guns-a-blazing in Nigeria and revoke all assistance,” she said, noting that such a move would jeopardise health programmes critical to combating malaria and HIV.
Jayapal pressed officials on the legality of any US military action in Nigeria.
“Can you tell me under what authority the US military would strike inside of Nigeria?” she asked.
Responding, the Senior Bureau Official at the Bureau of African Affairs, Jonathan Pratt, said, “The Secretary of State has directed us to put together a comprehensive plan that uses all tools at our disposal, including security and the Department of War. And this would be primarily focused on the security that we are providing to the government of Nigeria and how they are deploying their assets.
Jayapal questioned whether the administration had considered diplomatic options before Trump’s public comments.
“Don’t you think it would have been appropriate to have the task force discussion and the alternatives presented prior to the president going on Truth Social and saying we’re going to go guns a-blazing into Nigeria?” she asked.
Pratt responded that Washington had long been engaged in Nigeria-related security and development issues.
“We have been working on these problems in Nigeria for a long time. We have a lot of programmes of assistance in the country. “They did undergo a foreign assistance review, but many of them continue, and we want to make sure that we are using them strategically to get the best outcomes,” he said.
Jayapal, in closing, criticised what she described as a confrontational approach.
“I just wish we would actually stick to that playbook rather than bully and threaten a country that is extremely important to us and to the region,” she said.
Quoting former US Ambassador Kelly Currie, she added, “You cannot solve problems created by men with guns by turning to men with guns for the solution
