U.S. lawmakers have accused Chinese miners in Nigeria of financing Boko Haram and other terrorists in Nigeria under the pretext of paying “protection money” to carry out illegal mining op­erations.

The five Republican lawmakers in the United States —Riley Moore of West Virginia, Chris Smith (New Jersey), Bill Huizenga (Michigan), Brian Mast (Flor­ida) and Mario Diaz-Balart (Florida)—made this submission on Tuesday in a new bill aimed at addressing what they described as ongoing religious persecu­tion and mass atrocities in Nigeria.

The bill titled ‘Nigeria Religious Free­dom and Accountability Act of 2026’ is “expected to move through the House quickly and gain widespread support,” Smith said in a statement published on his official website.

In the bill, the lawmakers argued that “systemic religious persecution” including mass murder, kidnappings, rape, village destruction, and forced dis­placement of persons, has persisted in Nigeria since 2009.

According to the Republican repre­sentatives, the Chinese miners were ex­ploiting Nigeria’s solid minerals, at the same time, compromising its national security by bankrolling the terrorists responsible for years of deadly attacks and economic disruption.

The lawmakers further stated these crimes were perpetrated by Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Fulani militant groups, and other extremist organisations, estimating that these actors have killed between 50,000 and 125,000 Christians be­tween 2009 and 2025. They added that churches were attacked or destroyed within the same period. ­

“The acts carried out by these militias are intended to intimi­date, coerce, and displace civilian populations, disrupt local gover­nance, and assert control over territory,” the lawmakers stated in their bill, noting that these ac­tions “meet the criteria for des­ignation as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) under sec­tion 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189).”

This bill is separate from an­other one by Messrs Moore and Smith which seeks to designate ex-Kano Governor Rabiu Kwank­waso, and two Nigerian herder groups as terrorists.

Messrs Moore and Smith recommended that the Nigerian authorities cooperate with Secre­tary of State, Marco Rubio, on a countermeasure to block illegal mining operations and their funding.

“The Secretary of State should work with the govern­ment of Nigeria to counteract the hostile foreign exploitation of Chinese illegal mining oper­ations and their destabilising practice of paying protection money to Fulani militias,” said the lawmakers.

In the last three years, at least 20 Chinese nationals have been arrested and arraigned before multiple Nigerian courts over illegal mining activities.