Retain Nigeria as “Country of Particular Concern”: U.S. Senators to State Department

The following year, in November 2021, the U.S. State Department removed Nigeria from the list of CPC, despite what observers said was an increasing number of attacks against Christians. This was followed by an outcry from various groups including the legal counsel for global religious freedom for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).

In the March 6 two-page letter, the three U.S. Senators say that “Nigeria continues to be one of the most dangerous countries in the world for Christians.”

“During a Christmas season that should have been abundant with joy and peace, Christians in several Nigerian farming villages faced one of the deadliest massacres in the country's recent history,” the Senators recall last Christmas weekend attack that was widely condemned.

They explain, “From December 23 to December 25, 2023, Islamic extremists murdered at least 140 people, including women and children, with an untold number wounded and displaced as a result of this senseless violence. It was a targeted attack carried out with shocking brutality.”

The three Senators say that the removal of Africa’s most populous nation from CPC list had far-reaching consequences.

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“Reports estimate that roughly 5,000 Nigerian Christians have been murdered in religiously motivated violence in each of the last two years,” they say referring to the Pentecost Sunday attack and the stoning of Deborah Yakubu.

The Senators lament that despite writing to the State Department following the highlighted incidents among others, nothing was done. They term it as “absurd” the belief held by the U.S. State Department that “violent attacks against Christians in Nigeria can be attributed to climate change.”

For years now, religious rights groups have considered Nigeria one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a Christian, with Open Doors International having rated the West African nation as the seventh worst country in the world in which to be a Christian.

Some aid organizations and experts have taken up the task of assembling evidence that the killing of Christians in Nigeria constitutes genocide.

Last Month, the U.S House Foreign Affairs Committee advanced a resolution to increase sanctions and pressure on the Nigerian government over the rampant persecution of Christians and other minorities in the country.

The resolution that the representative of U.S. New Jersey, Chris Smith, sponsored seeks to push President Joe Biden’s administration to redesignate Nigeria with additional sanctions.

The resolution would also urge the administration to appoint a special U.S. envoy to Nigeria to monitor and report on incidents of persecution.

In their March 6 letter, the three U.S. Senators say that despite all the recommendations of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and numerous religious freedom and human rights organizations, the State Department has maintained its stance against returning Nigeria to CPC list.

“You must not stand idly by while Nigerian Christians continue to be murdered for their faith,” Senators Hawley, Rubio, and Braun say in their letter to the U.S. Secretary of State, which they copied to Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, the Honourable Rashad Hussain.

They urge Mr. Blinken “to immediately use the tools at your disposal and re-designate Nigeria as a CPC.”

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“We will continue to conduct oversight and hold the Biden Administration accountable until you fulfill your obligation under the law,” the three U.S. Senators say in their March 6 letter.

Silas Mwale Isenjia is a Kenyan journalist with a great zeal and interest for Catholic Church related communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communication from Moi University in Kenya. Silas has vast experience in the Media production industry. He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.