The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has warned of a “Christian genocide” if the government of Nigeria cannot protect Christians from Islamic terrorism.
The 2021 USCIRF annual report has again listed Nigeria as a country
of particular concern (CPC), a designation for “engaging in and
tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious
freedom”.
USCIRF also listed Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa
Province – both active in persecuting Nigeria’s Christians – as entities
of particular concern (EPCs).
The report accuses the Nigerian government of a “problematic level of
apathy” for its failure to properly investigate and prosecute Islamist
violence against Christians, adding, “More Christians have been killed
for their faith in Nigeria in the last year than in the entire Middle
East.”
“Nigeria is quickly becoming a ‘killing field’ for that nation’s
Christians,” said committee member Gary L. Bauer. “Nigeria’s government
seems unable or unwilling to stop the growing carnage.
“In large swathes of the country, Christian parents fear for their
children every day when they go to school. Those children are targeted
by savage Islamists who kidnap and force them to renounce Christ or face
death. Every time a Nigerian Christian family worships at a church,
they are painfully aware it may be the last thing they do on this earth.
“Radical Islamists are committing violence inspired by what they
believe is a religious imperative to ‘cleanse’ Nigeria of its
Christians. They must be stopped.”
For Christians living in the North and Middle Belt of Nigeria,
persecution is rife and relentless. Since 2015 extremist violence has
killed at least 8,400 Christians. Thousands of people have been maimed,
kidnapped or had their homes and livelihoods destroyed, and more than
two million have been displaced.
Please sign our open letter to Prime Minister, Hon. Scott Morrison MP asking him to raise the extensive persecution of Christians in Nigeria as a matter of concern at the 2021 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Rwanda in June: https://savenigerianchristians.org/
Related Countries
Nigeria
