Nigeria (MNN) — On May 1, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released the 2024 Annual Report.
USCIRF makes recommendations to enhance the U.S. government’s promotion of freedom of religion or belief abroad. In this case, 17 countries earned the recommendation of inclusion as Countries of Particular Concern (CPCs) based on their governments permitting violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief. Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan were on the 2023 CPC list, and they are joined by Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Nigeria, and Vietnam this year.
Among other recommendations, USCIRF added another category in 2016 for non-state actors that engage in severe religious freedom violations and meet certain other factors. These are called Entities of Particular Concern (EPCs). In 2023, the State Department designated the following as EPCs: al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Houthis, Islamic State Sahel Province (I.S. Sahel), Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) (also referred to as ISIS-West Africa), and Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM).
What do the recommendations do? As the report describes and assesses U.S. international religious freedom policy overall, the recommendations advise the State Department on a response, such as sanctions.
It’s not news
(Photo courtesy of Voice of the Martyrs USA)
In 2021, the State Department took Nigeria off the CPC list, much to the dismay of those watching the unfolding situation in the north of the country. Since then, Boko Haram and ISWAP have increased the frequency of their attacks. Todd Nettleton, spokesman for The Voice of the Martyrs USA, says it’s a sad commentary on what is happening in the country. “When there is an attack, or when a pastor is killed, or a church is destroyed, it’s not news, because it is just what we expected: ‘That’s what happens in northern Nigeria.'”
Christians have been targets of ISWAP and Boko Haram for years. Fulani militants also began a systematic campaign to rid the region of Christians. In 2014, the militia was named the fourth deadliest terrorist group in the world by the Global Terrorism Index.
Frustration mounts
The plight of the Christians isn’t lost on Nigerians. In late April, Plateau State University students clashed with the military as they were protesting the lack of protection for a Christian-majority area, an area recently attacked by the Fulani. Nettleton says, “Many in the population are quite educated; they are online. They see how the rest of the world is living. They see that it doesn’t have to be this way. ‘We don’t have to fight each other. We don’t have to be scared when we go to a mosque or a church. We want something different.'”
But God…
Every election seems to have religious freedom at the heart of the debate, coming in under the heading of “terrorism.” The frustration is that “Every new leader in Nigeria says, ‘I’m going to get a handle on this. I’m the guy who can solve this problem. I’m the guy who can stop Boko Haram, can stop the terrorist attacks,'” says Nettleton, observing, “It seems like once they get an office, that suddenly is not such a high priority, or they realize, ‘I can’t stop this.'”
(Photo courtesy of The Voice of the Martyrs USA)
However, God is sovereign. To that end, “I think praying for government leaders; praying for them to have wisdom to know how to respond to some of these challenges and how to enact change.”
Meanwhile, mass kidnappings and violent attacks continue throughout the country. For Christians in Nigeria, the pressure proves their character. “I think of so many pastors that Voice of the Martyrs is working within northern Nigeria. Many of them send their families further south to be safe.” Yet Nettleton says the pastors themselves remain. “They continue to say, ‘This is where God has called me. This is where I’m going to serve.’ I think of those brothers and sisters, and I hope we would pray for them as well.”
Header photo courtesy of USCIRF.
