US Congressman Riley Moore has said that Nigerian people do not trust their government.

Moore stated this on Thursday at US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Africa, which is investigating Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’, CPC.

“The Nigerian people don’t trust their government. ‘How can you trust a government that doesn’t show up when you ask them to?

“The Nigerian government must work with the US in cooperation to address these insecurity issues.

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“A case that just happened recently in Plateau state. We had a pastor there who warned the Nigerian government that they were under attack. There’s imminent attack forces here in the next 24 hours. Please come and help us.

“The Nigerian government did not only ignore it but put up a press release that it is fake news,” he said.

Moore would be meeting with a delegation of senior members of the Nigerian government, over the devastating insecurity in Nigeria and the US designation of the country as CPC, DAILY POST reports.

In an 11th-hour about-turn, the United States has told South Africa it wants to take part in this weekend’s G20 summit in Johannesburg, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Thursday.

President Donald Trump’s administration had said it would not take part in the November 22-23 meeting and that no final statement by G20 leaders could be issued without its presence.

It has clashed with South Africa over various international and domestic policies this year, extending its objections to Pretoria’s G20 priorities for the meeting of leading economies being held for the first time in Africa.

“We have received notice from the United States, a notice which we are still in discussions with them over, about a change of mind about participating in one shape, form or other in the summit,” Ramaphosa told reporters.

“This comes at the late hour before the summit begins. And so therefore, we do need to engage in those types of discussions to see how practical it is and what it finally really means,” he said.

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There was no immediate confirmation from US officials.

Ramaphosa said: “We still need to engage with them to understand fully what their participation at the 11th hour means and how it will manifest itself.”

In a note to the government on Saturday, the US embassy repeated that it would not attend the summit, saying South Africa’s G20 priorities “run counter to the US policy views and we cannot support consensus on any documents negotiated under your presidency”.

Ramaphosa said earlier Thursday that South Africa would not be bullied.

“It cannot be that a country’s geographical location or income or army determines who has a voice and who is spoken down to,” he told delegates at a G20 curtain-raiser event.

There “should be no bullying of one nation by another”, he said.

– ‘Positive sign’ –
Ramaphosa said the apparent change of heart was “a positive sign”.

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“All countries are here, and the United States, the biggest economy in the world, needs to be here,” he said.

South Africa chose “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability” as the theme of its presidency of the G20, which comprises 19 countries and two regional bodies, the European Union and the African Union.

Its agenda focuses on strengthening disaster resilience, improving debt sustainability for low-income countries, financing a “just energy transition” and harnessing “critical minerals for inclusive growth and sustainable development”.

After early objections from Washington, it vowed to press on with its programme and its aim to find consensus on a leaders’ statement on the outcome of the discussions.

“We will not be told by anyone who is absent that we cannot adopt a declaration or make any decisions at the summit,” Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said Thursday.

Trump has singled out South Africa for harsh treatment on a number of issues since he returned to the White House in January, notably making debunked claims of white Afrikaners being systematically “killed and slaughtered” in the country.

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He expelled South Africa’s ambassador in March and has imposed 30 percent trade tariffs, the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.

US businesses were well represented at a separate Business 20 (B20) event that wound up in Johannesburg Thursday.

The head of the US Chamber of Commerce, Suzanne Clark, thanked South Africa for fostering “real collaboration between G20 nations during a time of rapid change” during its rotating presidency, which transfers to the United States for 2026.

“The US Chamber of Commerce will use our B20 leadership to foster international collaboration,” Clark said.

The United States has significant business interests in South Africa with more than 600 US companies operating in the country, according to the South African embassy in Washington.

G20 members account for 85 percent of global GDP and around two-thirds of the world’s population.

Jacob McGee, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, has defended the designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, CPC, under the administration of President Donald Trump.

McGee made the defence on Thursday during a public hearing of the US Congress on Nigeria’s CPC status.

He cited the 2022 killing of Deborah Samuel, a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, who was lynched by a mob after being accused of blasphemy.

“Her murderers remain free,” McGee said, describing the incident as part of a troubling pattern of abuses, torture, disappearances and extrajudicial killings linked to blasphemy accusations.

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McGee said the US “stands ready to champion the rights of Christians,” stressing that the annual International Religious Freedom, IRF, reports consistently document severe violations in Nigeria.

He noted that violence targeting Christian communities—particularly in the Middle Belt—has become alarming. According to him, numerous testimonies confirm that attackers “used religious language” and “specifically targeted Christians for killing, abduction and rape.”

The official also accused the Nigerian government of failing to protect religious leaders who speak out. He referenced Bishop Wilfred Anagbe and Father Remigius, who he said received threats instead of protection after testifying before US lawmakers last year.

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McGee further condemned Nigeria’s blasphemy laws, enforced under Sharia penal codes in 12 states, saying they violate free speech and place the country among only eight worldwide where blasphemy can carry the death penalty.

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He warned that the US would continue to monitor religious freedom in Nigeria and “act until the Nigerian government protects vulnerable Christians and holds perpetrators accountable.”

He said: “That the United States stands ready to champion the rights of Christians and protect them from religious persecution. The religious freedom situation in Nigeria is well documented in the annual IRF reports. The IRF act, designed by Congress nearly three decades ago, establishes religious freedom as a US foreign policy priority and mandates that the President call out religious freedom violators as a reflection of the importance our nation places on America’s first freedom.

“As my colleague stated, the levels of violence and atrocities committed against Christians in Nigeria are appalling, particularly in the Middle Belt. These attacks directly target Christian populations.

“Ample witness testimonies have confirmed attackers used religious language during their attacks and specifically targeted Christians for killing, abduction and rape. It is clear Nigerians are being attacked and killed because of their faith, and the Nigerian government must uphold its duty to protect them.

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“The United States stands with civil society and religious actors brave enough to speak about the tragic violence and discrimination they face in Nigeria. When Bishop Wilfred Anagbe and Father Remigius testified before Chairman Smith’s hearing last March about religious freedom, these two courageous religious leaders reported they received threats rather than protection from the Nigerian government.

“But the United States listened, and we will continue to listen and act until the Nigerian government protects religious freedom, strengthens its protections for vulnerable Christians and upholds and holds perpetrators accountable.

“In addition to these failures, Nigerian officials also continue to prosecute individuals for alleged blasphemy, which stands in clear violation of Nigeria’s obligation to safeguard free speech under the Sharia penal codes enforced in 12 of its states. Nigeria is one of only eight countries in the world that allows for penalties up to execution for blasphemy, along with Iran and Pakistan, which have long been designated CPCs.

“When authorities detain individuals accused of blasphemy, the judicial process often takes years while they remain in prison, sometimes on death row. Mobs often take the law into their own hands with impunity. For example, in 2022 a mob killed Deborah Samuel Yakubu, a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, in a heinous attack after she was accused of blasphemy; this young Christian woman’s life was taken too soon, yet her murderers remain free with horrifying reports of discrimination, abuse, torture, disappearance and even the murder of individuals.”