NIGERIA has hired a United States lobbying and public affairs firm at the cost of $9 million to communicate its security efforts and response to violence affecting Christians to policymakers in Washington.
It was gathered from documents filed with the US Department of Justice that DCI Group, a Washington-based lobbying firm, was contracted to engage US officials on Nigeria’s counterterrorism operations and its handling of allegations of religiously motivated violence.
The agreement was executed on December 17, 2025, through Aster Legal, a Kaduna-based law firm acting on behalf of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mr Nuhu Ribadu.
Brian McCabe, Manging Partner, DCI Group
The terms of agreement say that DCI Group will outline Nigeria’s measures to protect Christian communities and to help sustain US support for the country’s campaign against jihadist groups operating across West Africa. The contract runs for an initial six-month period ending June 30, 2026, and contains an automatic extension clause unless either party terminates the agreement with 60 days’ notice. Nigeria has already paid $4.5 million as an advance retainer, with the full value of the contract estimated at $9 million. The agreement provides for a monthly fee of $750,000 to cover professional services and related expenses.
The rationale behind the step taken by the National Security Adviser (NSA) can be traced to President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to enter Nigeria and bomb terrorists allegedly killing Christians. He has repeatedly alluded that the Nigerian government isn’t doing enough to protect Christians.
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In early November 2025, Mr Trump had designated Nigeria as a ‘country of concern’ and threatened to cut off aid and enter the nation to root out terrorists if the government failed to take action against the alleged Christian genocide. “If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”
Mr Trump later appointed House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma) and Rep. Riley Moore (R-West Virginia) to lead an investigation into the matter.
The U.S. delegation came to Nigeria to see things for themselves. But while they were still in Nigeria, Mr Trump added Africa’s most populous nation to the list of countries on partial entry restrictions to the United States.
The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria subsequently announced a partial suspension of visa issuance beginning January 1, 2026.
On December 22, news broke that the United States had been carrying out intelligence-gathering flights over large parts of Nigeria since late November, according to flight-tracking data and current and former U.S. officials, signalling heightened security engagement between Washington and Abuja, Reuters reported. Mr Trump subsequently bombed terrorists in Sokoto State on the Christmas night and has promised to bomb more areas if the terrorism continues.
Who is DCI Group?
DCI is a full-service public affairs consulting firm specialising in communications and strategic advisory services. For more than 25 years, the world’s largest companies and brands have turned to DCI to help them solve their biggest challenges. The firm claims to have seasoned political operatives, communications strategists, industry experts, and creative professionals with a reputation for winning the toughest fights.
it claims to have a team of experts who know how to win. The firm says it creates influence in the marketplace, the media environment, and with decision-makers. It advises top executives and corporate boards on crisis management, litigation communications, and public affairs strategy. The firm has helped to manage crisis for multinationals, brand-positioned a German auto maker, and provided support for health company.
“We use research and data to re-frame narratives and to put our clients on offense. We cultivate strong relationships with media, government officials, and stakeholders. We know how to win at the local, national, and international level, and we’ve built an unrivaled network of grassroots, media, and government affairs specialists across all fifty U.S. states, the EU, South America, Asia, Australia, and Africa.”
One of DCI Group’s work is raising advocacy for Ukraine. Its client, a Ukrainian advocacy organisation dedicated to educating the international community about the history of Ukraine and the importance of preserving the country’s rich cultural heritage, approached the firm after Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At the time, support for Ukraine from conservatives in the United States was wavering, and the client wanted DCI Group’s help in providing Republican elected officials with the necessary permission structure from their constituencies to vote for Ukraine aid.
“We researched and documented stories of atrocities committed by Russian forces against Ukrainian evangelicals, exposing Russia’s targeting of Christians in occupied territories, kidnappings, torture, killings, and the destruction or seizure of over 640 religious sites,” the firm says.
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The firm established Defenders of Faith and Religious Freedom in Ukraine, an initiative aimed at raising awareness among U.S. audiences about the plight of Ukrainian Christians through a comprehensive public affairs campaign that included firsthand testimonies, educational trips and events, and strategically placed media coverage to highlight this critical issue. The firm travelled to Ukraine twice in 2024 and brought conservative thought leaders to meet with Ukrainian elected officials and religious leaders in Kyiv.
“Over the course of 12 months, we helped position Ukrainian Christians with firsthand experience of Russian torture in front of Christian and conservative media outlets. We shifted the narrative of supporting Ukraine from considerations around NATO and geopolitics to religious freedom concerns and moral right and wrong. The United States continues to support Ukraine in its fight for freedom against the Russian invasion of their country,” the firm says.
Mr Brian McCabe and Mr Justin Peterson serve as managing partners at DCI. Mr Peterson is a veteran communications strategist with more than three decades of professional experience. He was appointed by President Trump in 2020 to serve as his representative to the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, a position he held from 2020-2023.
Mr McCabe oversees a significant portion of the firm’s client portfolio as well as the firm’s digital services team. His breadth of experience includes extensive work in the telecommunications, technology and financial services sectors helping clients develop effective approaches to public policy issues, mergers and acquisitions, crisis communications and litigation issues. Mr Pushapraj Singh Bhamra serves as the Director of Information Technology at DCI, while Mr Chris Blackledge serves as its Vice President of Finance.
Ms Megan Barnett Bloomgren serves as a Partner, while Ms Haley Brouwer is a Senior Account Executive.
