U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-N.J.) criticized the Biden Administration and the U.S. Department of State (DOS) for removing Nigeria from the DOS' list of countries that violate religious freedom according to a press release published by Smith on Tuesday.
“Time and time again, violators of religious freedom are given a pass in the State Department’s Country of Particular Concern designations, even when the US Commission on International Religious Freedom makes recommendations with compelling evidence,” said Smith, who is also the Chair of the House Global Human Rights Subcommittee. "While on paper Nigeria has robust protections for all religions, violations of religious freedom are escalating."
In the release, Smith cited religious freedom watchdog Open Doors International (OPI), which reported that 5,000 Nigerian Christians died in 2022, making up approximately 90% of global Christian fatalities. Additionally, Christian abductions in Nigeria accounted for approximately 90% of such abductions worldwide.
On its official website, OPI reported that Nigerian Christians are persecuted by enforced Islamisation, which is especially prevalent in the northern area of the country and has slowly become more popular in the south.
Fulani militants and unaffiliated bandits have settled in southern forests and have made access to farmlands difficult and dangerous for Christian farmers. Christian women and girls are also at risk of being sexually assaulted and forcibly married by and to Islamic fundamentalists. Abductions for ransom, including those of church leaders, have also become more common. However, the Nigerian government continues to deny the existence of religious persecution in the country.
“The destabilization of Nigeria by violent Islamist militants continues its downward spiral,” said Religious Freedom Institute President Dr. Eric Patterson. “In Nigeria’s middle belt, sectarian violence has resulted in abductions, forced conversions, and thousands of deaths, the majority of which are ethno-religious attacks targeting Christian communities, and churches.”
According to Smith's release, the House Global Human Rights Subcommittee also examined other countries on record as having had religious freedom violations. Named countries included China, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Nicaragua.
“I am concerned that the US State Department is not using all the tools provided to hold guilty parties accountable,” Smith said during the hearing, asking U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Rashad Hussain to reconsider the aforementioned countries as "Countries of Particular Concern".
