Five US senators write to secretary of state saying Nigeria is country of particular concern on religious freedoms

FIVE American senators have written to the US secretary of state Antony Blinken urging him to immediately re-designate Nigeria as a country of particular concern (CPC) under the US International Religious Freedom Act in response to ongoing attacks in churches.

Of late, Islamic extremists have stepped up their attacks on churches across Nigeria, gunning down worshippers, abducting clergymen and terrorising congregations. Most gruesome of all of these was the attack St Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State on June 5, when about 40 were murdered in cold blood.

In response, US Senators Josh Hawley, Marco Rubio, Mike Braun, James Inhofe and Tom Cotton have sent a joint letter to Mr Blinken. They alleged that recent acts of violence targeting Nigerian Christians have underscored the deteriorating state of religious freedom in the country.

In their letter, copied to Rashad Hussain, the US,. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, the lawmakers stated: “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.

“Last year, however, you inexplicably removed Nigeria’s designation as a 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, while 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.”

They stated that religious violence and intolerance directed toward Nigerian Christians had worsened in recent years and that one report documented more than 4,650 cases of Nigerian Christians who were killed for their faith in 2021. Also, the senators said that Nigeria earned the dubious honour for the second consecutive year, of being the deadliest country on earth for Christians.