U.S. lawmaker Riley Moore has opposed moves to remove Nigeria from the “countries of particular concern’ list, saying President Bola Tinubu’s administration is not doing enough to end Christian genocide in the country.

Mr Moore made the call in a post on X on Tuesday, reacting to Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker’s post about the second Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting with a Nigerian delegation led by National Security Advisor Mallam Nuhu Ribadu in Washington on August 12.   

“Do not remove the CPC designation for Nigeria. They have not done near enough to protect Christians! They continue to get slaughtered!!” Mr Moore said.

Ms Hooker announced her engagement with Mr Ribadu’s delegation in a statement by the U.S. Department of State detailing discussions between Nigerian and U.S. officials.

“Discussions centred on three priority areas: protecting Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, holding perpetrators of violence accountable by strengthening judicial and security institutions, and military-to-military cooperation. Under Secretary Hooker and the Nigerian delegation reviewed progress on internally displaced persons’ (IDP) resettlement to their ancestral homes, counterterrorism prosecutions, and combating the financing of terrorism,” the statement said. 

“Under Secretary Hooker separately met with NSA Ribadu to further advance bilateral priorities and reaffirm the United States’ commitment to working with Nigeria to protect Christian communities and to deepen joint security cooperation,” it added.

Mr Moore was a member of a U.S. fact-finding delegation to Nigeria on alleged Christian genocide. His statement comes after bandits killed scores of people.