Republican Congressman Riley Moore is set to brief former US President Donald Trump on the situation in Nigeria following a recent visit to the West African nation, where he assessed insecurity and governance challenges, US and Nigerian sources confirmed on Friday.
Moore, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, travelled to Nigeria this week at the invitation of Trump. During his visit, he met senior government officials, civil society leaders and security personnel, hearing firsthand accounts of insurgency, banditry and kidnappings that continue to plague large swathes of the country.
In a statement upon his return, Moore said he would provide a classified update to Trump and Republican lawmakers, emphasising the need for targeted support to address Nigeria’s security crisis. “We saw with our own eyes the depth of the violence and the impact on communities,” Moore said. “I will brief President Trump on what we witnessed and recommend ways the United States can responsibly engage.”
In an interview on Fox News, he shared on X, Moore said the mission aimed to gather first-hand evidence on the violence affecting Christian communities.
“This mission was part of our report. This was a fact-finding mission. There were five members of Congress in total who went there. We went to Benue State, which is one of the most dangerous states in Nigeria. This is where all the Christians, a majority of them, are being murdered for their faith in Jesus Christ.
“But I felt that we had to go there. So we went in armoured vehicles with security and went there and visited with these people, visited with these Christians, Christian associations, Bishop Anagbe, the Catholic Church, and Protestant leaders as well, and got the ground truth that we’re going to go report back to the president,” he said.
I just returned from a Congressional delegation to Nigeria with @HouseAppropsGOP. While there, we visited Benue State.
We met with Bishops Anagbe and Dugu and Tor Tiv. We met with suffering IDPs who are all Christians. They are forced to live in camps that are regularly… pic.twitter.com/pMRpYhNMWW
— Rep. Riley M. Moore (@RepRileyMoore) December 11, 2025
Moore’s delegation visited Kano, Kaduna and Abuja, officials said, and was shown evidence of attacks attributed to armed groups in both rural and urban areas. He also held discussions with Nigerian Defence Headquarters officials on joint approaches to counter-terrorism and community protection.
The lawmaker stressed that the briefing would not be merely political but grounded in national security concerns. “This is about stabilising a key strategic partner in Africa and supporting Nigerians who are suffering,” Moore added.
