The US House of Representatives has passed a fiscal year appropriations bill containing a provision to reduce foreign assistance to Nigeria over alleged targeted violence against Christians and other vulnerable communities.

This was reported by Premium Times.

The bill includes provisions to suspend all US foreign assistance to Nigeria until the United States can verify that the Nigerian government is taking effective measures to protect Christians from violence.

The bill calls for “holding foreign governments and bad actors accountable for the persecution of people of faith.”

According to the bill, this measure includes “restricting assistance to Nigeria until measurable steps have been taken to protect Christian communities affected by religious violence.”

It also seeks to ensure “support for international religious freedom programs and the protection of religious freedom for faith-based organizations providing foreign assistance.”

As previously reported by LF, a memorandum was submitted to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief asserting that the escalation of violence against Christians and moderate Muslims in the country amounts to genocide.

Earlier, we reported that a court in Nigeria sentenced four people to death for the 2022 attack on a church and the killing of worshippers in the southwestern state of Ondo. Forty-one believers were killed and more than 100 were injured when attackers opened fire during a Pentecost service at Saint Francis Catholic Church in the city of Owo.