‘Cannot Go to Terrorists’: House Ends Taxpayer-Funded Aid to Nigeria Over Christian Genocide

• July 16, 2026

Gunmen with explosives stormed a Catholic church and opened fire in southwest Nigeria, killing “many” worshippers and wounding others, the government and police said. (AFP via Getty Images)

An amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would end U.S. tax dollars from flowing to Nigeria over the Christian massacre in the country passed the lower chamber by a slim margin.

According to UN News, Islamic radicals have kidnapped, slaughtered, and displaced over 3.5 million Christians in the country.

The amendment introduced by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., was approved by a voice vote on Wednesday and was added to the fiscal 2027 State Department spending bill.

The House later passed the State Department spending bill 217-209.

“Nigeria’s government failed to protect Christians and other religious minorities from years of violence and terrorism carried out with impunity, Steube told the Daily Signal.

“American taxpayers should never bankroll a government that looks away while Christians are abducted, tortured, and killed, particularly with our national debt nearing $40 trillion. Foreign aid cannot go to terrorists,” he continued.

A different bill had originally proposed withholding 50% of funds appropriated for Nigeria until the Secretary of State Marco Rubio certified that the country has taken “effective steps to prevent and respond to violence and hold perpetrators accountable.”

Steube’s amendment, however, raises that threshold to 100% while leaving the certification conditions unchanged.

“Withholding only half of U.S. assistance still rewards that failure, so I pushed to increase it to 100%,” Steube concluded.

UN Watch noted that in northwestern Nigeria, armed Islamic criminal groups have taken control of rural areas in states including Zamfara, Katsina, and Sokoto, carrying out mass kidnappings and extortion in what authorities describe as banditry.

The violence has forced entire villages to empty, with about 1 million people displaced across the region, according to United Nations estimates.

In Nigeria’s central belt, disputes between farmers and herders over land—exacerbated by climate pressures and environmental degradation—have fueled additional waves of displacement.

The amendment, which is attached to the larger State Department funding bill, is now headed to the Senate for a vote. If passed by the Senate, the legislation will head to the president’s desk for a signature, where it would take effect immediately.

Pedro Rodriguez | Journalism Fellow

Pedro Boccalato Rodriguez-Aparicio is a journalism fellow at the Daily Signal.

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