SW News: Given rising attacks against Christians, American human rights activists have asked US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to include Nigeria back on the list of the world’s worst violators of religious freedom.
In 2020, the State Department declared Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) in the International Religious Freedom Report for having “engaged in” or “tolerated” severe violations of religious freedom.
In November 2021, the state department removed the country from the list of CPCs despite growing attacks against Christians. In a letter dated September 19, as many as 68 NGOs and human rights experts called on the Secretary of State to designate Nigeria as a CPC and appoint a special envoy to inquire into the situation and make suggestions in consultation with local representatives.
The letter indicated an increasingly hostile environment for Nigerian Christians. The advocacy group's letter represents diverse religious, non-religious, and ethnic backgrounds but is united in promoting freedom of religion or belief for all.
The Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA) reported that from October 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021, 4,303 Christians and 2,235 Muslims were killed in jihadist-related violence. ORFA found that Christians were 7.8 times more likely to be killed in jihadist-related attacks than those professing Islam. This disproportionality shows that Christians are being specifically targeted by terrorists and militants.
The letter said that after the still unexplained removal of Nigeria’s CPC designation in November 2021, both the general level of violence and specific targeting of Christians increased. Open Doors found more Christians killed in Nigeria in 2021—4,650—than in all other countries in the world combined.
In the end, it said that the CPC designation and Special Envoy are vital to recognize the gravity of the religious freedom violations occurring in the country and the government’s unwillingness to control the problems, as well as its contributions to the problems.