France, Nov. 21 -- At a public hearing of theHouse Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa,lawmakers grappled with whether to back Trump's recent decision to label the country a "state of particular concern" over religious freedom.

The US president has insisted that Christian communities in Africa's most populous nation face widespread persecution - a claim that Nigerian officials have strongly rejected.

At Thursday's hearing, Chris Smith, a veteran Republicanwho chairs the Africa subcommittee, argued that Nigeria was "ground zero, the focal point of the most brutal and murderous anti-Christian persecution in the world today".

He accused the Nigerian authorities of failing in their constitutional duty to protect citizens, insisting that...