American legislators introduced a bill Tuesday seeking visa restrictions and asset seizures against Rabiu Kwankwaso and Fulani herder associations, accusing them of orchestrating assaults on Christian communities in Africa’s largest nation.
The proposed Nigeria Religious Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026, sponsored by Republicans Chris Smith and Riley Moore, urges the State and Treasury departments to apply penalties under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.
“The Department of State and the Department of Treasury should impose targeted sanctions, including visa bans and asset freezes under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, on individuals and entities responsible for severe religious violations,” the measure states.
It specifically lists Kwankwaso, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, and Fulani militias as “unrepentant violators” behind attacks in northern Nigeria.
The initiative aims to compel President Bola Tinubu’s government to halt what US President Donald Trump has termed a “genocide” against Christians, following his 2025 redesignation of Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” for religious freedoms.
Lawmakers cited incidents like the October 2025 Plateau massacre, alongside broader claims of unchecked persecution, including the decade-long imprisonment of farmer Sunday Jackson — later pardoned after US pressure — for defending against a herder.
The bill also calls for probing Fulani militias’ potential classification as a foreign terrorist organization and identifying their backers for accountability.
This follows recent US interventions, such as Christmas Day airstrikes on Sokoto terrorist sites, which Nigeria’s First Lady Remi Tinubu praised as “a blessing,” and plans to station 200 American troops for anti-terror support.
