The Christian Association of Nigeria has knocked the United
States for removing Nigeria from its 2021 list of religious violators, saying
that Christians are still being persecuted by terrorist groups and other
Islamic associations in the country.
The apex Christian organisation said that it is at a loss on
the data or statistics used by the US government in arriving at delisting
Nigeria from the list of ‘Countries of Particular Concern’ on the issue of
freedom of religion.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a statement on
Wednesday, blacklisted Russia, China and eight other countries as religious
violators, leaving out Nigeria which was placed on the same list in 2020.
Blinken later visited Abuja, Nigeria on a two-day official
visit that ended on Friday, saying the delisting of Nigeria was based on facts.
However, CAN in a statement on Saturday frowned upon the
move, saying Christians are still being ferociously attacked and nothing has
changed between 2020 and 2021 to warrant the removal of Nigeria from the list
of religious violators.
The statement signed by CAN President, Rev Samson Ayokunle
was titled, ‘CPC List: We Are At a Loss On the Data the US Government Used for
the Delisting of Nigeria – CAN’.
The statement read in part, “The US government did not
contact us when they were listing Nigeria among the countries of ‘Particular
Concern’ on religious freedom, neither did they seek our opinion before
removing Nigeria from the list. If they had done, we would have been able to
compare the statistics then and now on the issue of freedom of religion in
Nigeria.
“Whatever may be the data they used, our prayer is that
Nigeria would be a country where no religious group is discriminated against or
persecuted and that our government would see to it that all religiously biased
policies are discontinued with.
“Christians had faced and are still facing persecution from
ISWAP and the Boko Haram Islamic Group till today as before. These are the
people who said their agenda was to wipe away Christianity from Nigeria and to
plant Islam as the only religion from the North down to the Atlantic Ocean in
the South. That agenda with the killing of Christians has not stopped till
today and Nigerians are living witnesses
“The bandits have joined other militant Islamic groups to be
ferociously attacking churches, killing worshippers and kidnapping for ransom.
The herdsmen are equally doing their havoc. We have lost many people and places
of worship to their assault, especially in the Northcentral part of the country
and the Northeast.
“Though the madness has grown now and those who are not
Christians are being attacked, killed and kidnapped, this is because these
criminal acts have become a lucrative business and it is whoever you can kidnap
for money! If the government had responded appropriately when this criminal
madness began and subdued these evil groups immediately, we wouldn’t be where
we are now!”
The Christian association also said discrimination against
Christians, especially in Northern Nigeria has not stopped.
“Up till today, our government is still funding the
membership of Nigeria in all the International Islamic organisations like OIC
and its allies without being part of any international Christian organization.
“Once again, we urge the US government to help us by
allowing us to know what has changed between the time our country was put in
the list of ‘countries of particular concern’ and now,” it added.
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