Five American
senators have asked Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, to re-designate
Nigeria as a country of particular concern (CPC).
In December 2020,
the US listed Nigeria among countries blacklisted for “violating religious
freedom” under the CPC designation.
However, in
November 2021, Nigeria was removed from the list.
In a June 29, 2022 letter, the senators questioned why Nigeria was “inexplicably” removed “despite no demonstrable improvement in the country’s religious freedom conditions”.
They cited the attack on St Francis Catholic Church, Owo,
Ondo state and the lynching of Deborah Samuel, a female student of Shehu
Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, as cases of “religious persecutions” in
Nigeria.
The senators who signed the letter are Josh Hawley, Marco
Rubio, Mike Braun, James Inhofe and Tom Cotton.
“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,” the letter reads.
“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.
“Make no mistake:
continued enforcement of state-sanctioned blasphemy laws enables the type of
deadly violence that killed Deborah Emmanuel Yakubu and so many others.
“When we previously wrote you, we were met with a response
which failed to answer our questions about why the State Department views
Nigeria as not having engaged in or tolerated “systematic, ongoing, and
egregious violations of religious freedom” or even “severe violations of
religious freedom.”
“Given the abysmal
state of religious freedom in Nigeria, it is incumbent upon you to reverse last
year’s decision and redesignate the country as a CPC. The moment demands that
you do so without delay. We look forward to your swift action on this important
matter.”
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