Again, the United States has added Nigeria to the list of Countries of Particular Concerns. Countries designated as CPC are guilty of “egregious violations of religious freedom.”
This is the second time Nigeria is being added to the CPC after an indictment by the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in 2019.
A statement issued by the U.S. Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, on Monday, stated that Nigeria has been re-designated as CPC for the second time.
The statement reads: “Religious freedom is an unalienable right, and the bedrock upon which free societies are built and flourish.
“Today, the United States – a nation founded by those fleeing religious persecution, as the recent Commission on Unalienable Rights report noted – once again took action to defend those who simply want to exercise this essential freedom.
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“The United States is designating Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, the DPRK, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as Countries of Particular Concern under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, as amended, for engaging in or tolerating “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom.”
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Pompeo said the US will not rest until it has fully eliminated the threat of religious freedom abuses by any violent extremist and terrorist groups.
According to USCIRF 2018 report, “Religious freedom conditions in Nigeria trended negatively in 2018. The Nigerian government at the national and state levels continued to tolerate violence and discrimination on the basis of religion or belief, and suppressed the freedom to manifest religion or belief.”
The report added that “religious sectarian violence increased during the year, with Muslims and Christians attacked based on their religious and ethnic identity.”
The report also cited the violation of rights of Shi’a members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), whose leader Sheikh Ibrahim El Zaky Zaky is still in detention despite a court ordering his release.
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