Nigeria, Nov. 11 -- The US House Subcommittee on Africa will hold a congressional hearing on Thursday to review the efforts of the Nigerian government to protect Christians from terrorists in the last year.

The congressional hearing, which will be led by the committee chairman, Chris Smith, a Republican lawmaker, will focus on terrorist operations in Benue and other states in the Middle Belt.

The hearing, titled "One Year Later: Assessing Nigeria's Efforts to Protect Christians and Secure the Middle Belt," is expected to examine religious violence and "Christian persecution" in Nigeria.

This comes a week after the US midterm elections, in which Republicans lost badly across the country. Mr Smith, however, retained his seat in the House...