Following the repeated attacks and killing of Christians in Nigeria, a group of United State senators are asking that Nigeria be re-designate as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) by the US government.
This call was made in a letter written to the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken by five American senators, which includes Senator Marco Rubion, Josh Hawley, Mike Braun, James M. Inhofe, and Tom Cotton.
The senators in the joint leter, obtained by Clarfiorm and copied below, blamed Antony Blinken for removing Nigeria from the CPC list, even though the country still remains a violator of religious freedom.
“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”, the senators wrote in the letter.
The letter was written in the aftermath of the attack on Christian worshippers at St Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo state, as wells as the mob attack on, and murder of Deborah Samuel, a female student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, who was killed by a group of fellow students for alleged blasphemy.
Citing the above instances, the senators therefore mildly rebooked the US Secretary of State for delisting Nigeria from the list of violators of religious freedom “despite no demonstrable improvement in the country’s religious freedom conditions”.
Notable Quotes:
Part of the letter obtained by Clariform reads in part,
“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.”
The Full Letter
For a copy of the letter written by the US senators, click here
