In a fiery statement released Saturday, Frank called Trump’s decision “bold and long overdue,” insisting it exposes a leadership that has abandoned its duty to protect citizens.

“We commend President Trump for taking this stand. It is long overdue,” Frank declared. “By this action, President Trump has shown he cares more about the welfare and safety of ordinary Nigerians than those elected to lead them.”

Trump announced the redesignation on Friday, decrying what he termed an “existential threat” to Christianity in Nigeria.“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. 

Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter,” Trump said. 

“I am hereby making Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern but that is the least of it.”The U.S. leader revealed he has asked Congress to review the crisis and explore stronger measures. 

Nigeria was first placed on the CPC list in 2020 under Trump’s first term but was removed in 2021 by the Biden administration.

Frank seized on the move to demand targeted international sanctions, including visa bans, asset freezes, and restrictions on illicit wealth against officials allegedly complicit in corruption and insecurity.“

The measures should be directed at those directly responsible for the atrocities not at ordinary Nigerians already suffering from the government’s failures, Christians and non-Christians alike,” he stressed.

Accusing some officials of profiting from chaos, Frank charged: “Insecurity has become a business for some within the system. 

Corruption and impunity are the twin engines driving the crisis.”He urged the global community to abandon “polite diplomacy” and apply real pressure to halt the bloodshed.

“The time for polite diplomacy is over. The world must stand with victims, not with those profiting from bloodshed,” Frank said. 

“President Trump’s action gives hope to millions of Nigerians who feel abandoned by their own leaders.”

Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, pushed back days earlier, rejecting claims of targeted religious persecution.

“We are not denying Nigeria’s security challenges, which we, under President Tinubu’s leadership, are dealing with boldly and decisively,” Idris said. 

“We ask to be understood as a multi-religious country united against all forms of insecurity.”

But Frank dismissed the response as deflection, warning that continued failure to act risks deeper humanitarian and economic collapse.“

Officials entrusted with protecting lives must be held accountable when they fail,” he said.Praising Trump’s “moral courage,” Frank called on other world leaders to follow suit in defending human rights worldwide.