U.S. Congressman Riley Moore has lauded the Nigerian Senate’s passage of the state police bill.

Mr Moore described it as a strong move to end Christian persecution in the country.

The Senate, during plenary on Wednesday, passed the bill seeking to amend the 1999 Constitution to establish state police services across the federation.

The bill was considered after Senate leader Opeyemi Bamidele presented its general principles. It subsequently scaled second reading, was considered clause-by-clause and passed third reading.

Mr Moore, who had been vocal about Nigeria’s security challenges, particularly the alleged persecution of Christians, welcomed the development in a post on X on Thursday.

“I’m encouraged to see Nigeria’s Senate approve legislation to establish state-level police forces—a reform I’ve called for publicly and privately since I first started investigating the genocide against Christians in Nigeria,” the U.S. lawmaker stated.

Mr Moore noted that the bill empowers states to protect their own citizens rather than relying on the federal government all the time.

“I can’t stress how critical this law that will empower states to protect their own citizens and reduce dependence on decision makers in Abuja is to the effort to defend persecuted Christians and address insecurity,” stated the U.S. politician.

The U.S. lawmaker commended President Bola Tinubu for advancing the bill and hoped the legislation would be ratified by a majority of states to take effect, saying, “President Tinubu deserves credit for pushing it forward, but now we need 2/3rds of the states to ratify before it will take effect.”

Mr Moore has been a thorn in the flesh of the Tinubu government, accusing it of splashing millions of dollars to lobby the American Congress while failing to address the killing of Christians in Nigeria.