US congressman warns Tinubu he will be held responsible if anything happens to Plateau clergyman

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has been warned by a US Congressman investigating the ongoing allegations of persecution of Christians in northern Nigeria that he will be held responsible should anything happen radical Plateau State clergyman Reverend Ezekiel Dachomo.

Earlier this month, US president Donald Trump declared that Nigerian Christians were being persecuted and called for the redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC). He further added that he may consider sending the US military into Nigeria in a bid to resolve the problem.

In response to this threat, President Bola Tinubu sent a high-level Nigerian delegation to the US to talk to officials there and both sides have now agreed to collaborate to end the protracted security challenges. Apparently, this delegation, led by the Nigeria's national security adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, met with senior officials across the US Congress, the White House Faith Office, the State Department, the National Security Council and the Department of War.

As part of the review of Nigeria's status,  the US House of Representatives Sub-committee on Africa held a public hearing into the matter. This CPC designation, if ratified by the Senate, would allow the US to impose sanctions on Nigerian officials found complicit in religious persecution and limit certain forms of bilateral assistance.

Several prominent Christian clergymen from across northern Nigeria testified before the panel which held via a live webcast. It was chaired by Representative Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey and a lot of the witnesses provided damning and powerful testimonies, with some even parading victims of brutal attacks.

Apparently, some of these witnesses, including Reverend Dachomo have been subjected to threats for the damning testimonies. Congressman Riley Moore, representing West Virginia, has now waded into the matter and threatened that the US will hold the Nigerian government responsible if anything should happen to Reverend Dachomo.

In a post he shared on his X account, the congressman, said the clergyman is being threatened by loyalists of President Bola Tinubu. Apparently, he has been threatened to desist from posting videos of Christian killings and mass burials across Plateau State.

In a video message he posted on his Facebook page on November 21, 2025, Reverend Dachomo had said: “They are threatening and warning me to stop exposing President Bola Tinubu’s government over the ongoing killings of Christians by Fulani terrorists.”

He also claimed that he had been receiving warnings and threatening phone calls from a high-ranking official within the Tinubu administration, following a visit from a presidential advisor expressing concern over his criticism of the government. Less than 24 hours after Reverend Dachomo made the revelation, his Facebook page was deleted while a new Instagram page was also shut down 24 hours after it was created.

Reverend Dachomo said: “I said, so I’m exposing my government while they watch me on social media but what about me? The same government is exposing us to Fulani killings by refusing to stop the attacks. Their silence endangers Christians all over Nigeria.”

Facebook Meta denied Reverend Dachomo the use of its account to post his videos and messages, citing the claim that his content posed a threat to Nigeria’s national security. These developments and consequent threats to the clergy have drawn condemnation from both local and international activists, many of whom have offered legal support.

Congressman Moore warned that Reverend Dachomo, the regional chairman of the Church of Christ in Nations in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State, is in danger. He then categorically said that the US would not take it lightly if Reverend Dachomo were to come to any harm.

“I do want to highlight a case that just happened recently in the Plateau State. We had a pastor there who had warned the Nigerian government  saying We are under imminent threat. We’re going to face an attack. If you don’t send some forces here in the next 24 hours, we need help. Please come here and help us.

“The Nigerian government not only ignored it but they literally put out a press release about it, calling it fake news, hyperbole and being overblown. Well, 13 people lost their lives the next day.

"How can you trust a government that doesn’t even show up when you ask them to? How are you supposed to trust your life with something like that? You can’t. The US will hold the Nigerian government responsible if anything should happen to the pastor,” Congressman Moore added.