Some United States senators have written to the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, to redesignate Nigeria as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ over alleged increasing cases of religious violence in the West African country.
The US had on November 17, 2021, removed Nigeria from its list of religious violators, even as it blacklisted Russia, China and eight other countries “as Countries of Particular Concern for having engaged in or tolerated ‘systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.”
The US had in 2020 placed Nigeria and six other countries on its special watch list of states that had engaged in or tolerated the severe violation of religious freedom.
But in a letter written by Senators Marco Rubio and Josh Hawley, and signed by three other Senators; Mike Braun, Tom Cotton and Jim Inhofe, the lawmakers said given the state of religious freedom in Nigeria, the country must be immediately returned to the list.
In the letter dated June 30, 2022, which was addressed to Blinken, the senators urged the government to immediately redesignate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern under the International Religious Freedom Act.
According to them, the letter follows recent acts of violence targeting Nigerian Christians that have underscored the deteriorating state of religious freedom in the country.
Read the full text of the letter below:
As you are well aware, horrific acts of deadly violence have been committed against Nigerian Christians in recent weeks, including the massacre of churchgoers on Pentecost Sunday and the stoning of a Christian college student. Sadly, such violence has become all too familiar for Christians in Africa’s most populous country. Last year, however, you inexplicably removed Nigeria’s designation as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) despite no demonstrable improvement in the country’s religious freedom conditions. On the contrary, the situation in Nigeria has grown worse. We previously urged you to immediately reverse your misguided decision, and we write today to renew our call.
Recent high-profile acts of violence underscore the intense religious persecution that is regularly experienced by Nigerian Christians. On Pentecost Sunday, gunmen attacked St. Francis Catholic Church in Nigeria’s Ondo state, reportedly killing at least 50 churchgoers. Last month, a violent mob brutally stoned to death Deborah Emmanuel Yakubu, a student at Shehu Shagari College of Education in northwest Nigeria. According to reports, some Islamist students were enraged by a “blasphemous” message Deborah had posted in a WhatsApp group, in which she said that “Jesus Christ is the greatest. He helped me pass my exams.” Merely expressing one’s Christian faith has apparently become tantamount to a death sentence in many parts of Nigeria.
Religious violence and intolerance directed toward Nigerian Christians has worsened in recent years. One report documented more than 4,650 cases of Nigerian Christians who were killed for their faith in 2021. Accordingly, Nigeria earns the dubious honor—for the second consecutive year—of being the deadliest country on earth for Christians.
