The United States Commission on International Religious
Freedom has faulted the removal of Nigeria from the list of “Countries of
Particular Concern for having engaged in or tolerated systematic, ongoing, and
egregious violations of religious freedom.”
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.
The development comes amid Blinken’s visit to Kenya and his
scheduled visit to Nigeria this week.
The USCIRF, which described itself as “an independent,
bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to
monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad”, said it “finds it
unexplainable that the U.S. Department of State did not redesignate Nigeria as
a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ and treated it as a country with no severe
religious freedom violations.”
‘Redesignate Nigeria as religious violator’
In a statement on Wednesday titled, ‘USCIRF Appalled at
Administration’s Removal of Nigeria from List of Violators of Religious
Freedom’, USCIRF Chair, Nadine Maenza, expressed disappointment over the
development, urging the Secretary of State to reconsider its decision.
“USCIRF is disappointed that the State Department did not
adopt our recommendations in designating the countries that are the worst
violators of religious freedom.
“While the State Department took steps forward on some
designations, USCIRF is especially displeased with the removal of Nigeria from
its CPC designation, where it was rightfully placed last year, as well as the
omission of India, Syria, and Vietnam. We urge the State Department to
reconsider its designations based on facts presented in its own reporting,” he
said.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com