Nigeria said on Tuesday that it is committed to protecting all Nigerians, regardless of religion or region, following a report by US lawmakers calling the West African nation the "deadliest place in the world to be a Christian."

The US report builds on allegations made last year by President Donald Trump that Christianity was facing an "existential threat" in the country.

The US has for months been criticizing Nigeria for facilitating the alleged persecution of Christians there, though the allegations have been rejected both by Abuja and by neutral observers.

Trump last year designated Nigeria as a "Country of Particular Concern" due to alleged violations of religious freedom.

What did the lawmakers' report say?

The report by the House Appropriations and Foreign Affairs Committees said that Christians in Nigeria were "subject to ongoing violent attacks" from armed militias and terrorist groups.

It said this had resulted in the "death and murder of tens of thousands of Christians, including pastors and priests, the destruction of thousands of churches and schools, as well as kidnappings."

It also said blasphemy laws in Nigeria's northern states are used to silence speech and dissent, target Christians and minorities, and "justify so-called 'convictions' without due process."

Congressman Riley M. Moore and others from the committees recommended establishing a US-Nigeria security agreement to protect Christians, withholding certain US funds and repealing sharia and blasphemy laws, among others.

What has Nigeria said?

In a statement on Tuesday carried by the Nigerian paper Punch, Nigeria's minister of information and national orientation, Mohammed Idris, stressed that his country has never had a state policy of religious persecution.

"The violence being confronted by our security agencies is not driven by government policy or religious bias, but by complex security threats, including terrorism, organised criminality, and longstanding communal tensions," he said.

He said the government was undertaking a number of measures to combat the violence, including by boosting military and law enforcement operations, improving the sharing of intelligence and investing in equipment and technology to support security agencies.

He also said efforts were being made to help internally displaced people and cultivate peace at the community level. 

Idris also emphasized the importance of ties with the US, saying that Nigeria remained "open to constructive dialogue and cooperation rooted in mutual respect, shared responsibility, and recognition of Nigeria's constitutional framework and sovereignty." 

What is the situation of Christians in Nigeria?

Nigeria, with a population of 237 million people, is roughly divided between a Muslim-majority north and a Christian-dominated south.

Northern Nigeria has remained affected by the decade-and-a-half-long Islamist insurgency led by Boko Haram and affiliates of the "Islamic State" group.

The country faces a complex security challenge from many different armed groups and thousands are killed annually. 

Other attacks also occur as part of conflicts between farmers and herders over dwindling resources like land. There are also ransoms for kidnappings and sectarian tensions. But the victims are both Christians and Muslims. 

Critics of the US president say that his allegations regarding the persecution of Christians in Nigeria play to the fundamentalist Christian groups that have helped him come to power twice since 2017.

What has the US undertaken in Nigeria amid its allegations?

On Christmas Day, Trump followed through on a threat and ordered a deadly strike on "Islamic State" group affiliate Lakurawa, which he has accused of persecuting Christians.

That strike was carried out in coordination with the African nation's government.

Speaking in Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum in January, Trump praised the strike, saying: "In Nigeria we’re annihilating terrorists who are killing Christians. We've hit them very hard."

He has told the New York Times in a recent interview that he would approve more strikes if Christians continued to be killed.

In addition, a spending measure released by Congress in January would make half of US aid to Nigeria conditional on whether it takes measures it takes to stop violence and promote "religious freedom."

 The US has also sent troops to Nigeria to help advise its military on the fight against extremist groups.

Edited by: Saim Dušan Inayatullah, Alex Berry