Kim Daniels’ push to protect Nigerian Christians gains momentum

A House resolution signaling that Florida stands with Christians being persecuted in Nigeria is advancing.

Rep. Kim Daniels’ measure (HR 761) condemns religious discrimination and supports inclusion of the African country on the state’s Countries of Concern list, along with China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela and Syria. The Judiciary Committee has now approved the measure, which will have one more stop before the House floor.

“I’ve got pictures that I cannot even share that came from actual people and things that happened in their family. And if you could picture Boko Haram setting these homes on fire, and sometimes they burn them alive. and block them in,” said Daniels, a Jacksonville Democrat.

Daniels’ bill itemizes troubling statistics in making its case for the censure. It notes that “since 2009 approximately 52,250 Christians have been brutally murdered in Nigeria … more than 19,000 churches have been attacked or destroyed,” with up to 100,000 Christians “martyred for their faith.”

“I’m standing here because blood is crying out from the ground in Nigeria,” Daniels said.

These atrocities are blamed on Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province, and Fulani militants. Beyond the casualties and church destructions, 5 million Nigerian Christians are currently in refugee camps.

Daniels, a preacher by trade, has been in Nigeria frequently. She said people have been slaughtered at the hands of terrorists, with Boko Haram disproportionately targeting people in the poorest, most rural areas.

And ahead of the unanimous vote in favor of the nonbinding resolution, she spoke eloquently of the ties she believes binds Christians globally.

“House Resolution 761 sends a loud message, not a political message. Not a party message, but a message of human rights. And that message is that in Florida, we believe in promoting human welfare and reducing suffering on a global scale, this time for the martyred Christians in Nigeria. Christianity is under attack around the world. But let’s stand with Nigeria. Who knows? One day, someone may have to stand with the Christians in America,” she said.

President Donald Trump has designated Nigeria as a national country of particular concern, and in December 2025, air strikes were conducted against ISIS over the country’s treatment of Christians.

Rep. Mike Gottlieb, the Ranking Democrat and Chair of the Legislative Jewish Caucus, hailed the bill as an important step in targeting religious persecution.

Republicans went further in their commentary

Rep. David Borrero of Hialeah said that the legislation works to shed light on and redress the type of discrimination Christians have experienced for centuries.

“For the last 2,000 years, Christians have been burned at the stake, burned in oil from back to the Roman times. They’ve been fed to lions. The amount of persecutions that Christians have gone through is entirely understated. So what you are doing, I think, is shedding light on something that needs to be shed light on,” Borrero said.

“You have millions of Christians to this day who are being killed, martyrs, put in slavery because of their faith. It’s really sad what’s going on, and the media doesn’t talk about it.”

“America is at war with Islam,” added Rep. Webster Barnaby of Deland, who said Americans were “asleep at the switch” and that ahead of the Christmas bombing, the Nigerian President was in “total denial” of what was happening in his country.

Barnaby went on to call Islam a “sick religion” whose adherents often dreamed of dying for their faith and “meeting 72 virgins.”