https://aleteia.org/2024/02/17/witn...share-details-of-nigerian-christian-genocide/
Experts urge US to designate Nigeria a "Country of Particular Concern" under International Religious Freedom Act.
If the crimes themselves weren’t so horrific, what would bother a Nigerian bishop the most is the utter lack of response to them.
Bishop Wilfred Anagbe is head of the Diocese of Makurdi, Nigeria, one of the areas that has been plagued for years by violence against Christians. In recent appearances in Washington, DC, including testimony before a congressional subcommittee this week, Bishop Anagbe said that Nigeria’s president has yet to speak out about a Christmas massacre that took the lives of more than 200 Christians not far from his diocese. The bloodshed in the north-central Nigerian state of Plateau began on Christmas Eve and lasted several days.
During a February 14 hearing of the Subcommittee on Africa of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Chris Smith, R-NJ, said that to date, no one has been held to account for that massacre, which has been blamed on marauding Fulani militants. According to Smith, Bishop Anagbe, and other observers, that’s pretty much par for the course.
Though one witness at the hearing, which considered “The Future of Freedom in Nigeria,” cautioned that there are multiple reasons for such violence, Bishop Anagbe and others focused on the violations of religious freedom that have been carried out or tolerated in Nigeria in recent years.
Bishop Anagbe painted a grim picture of ongoing attacks against Christian villages and desperate IDPs – internally displaced persons – who must endure subhuman conditions in refugee camps.
He and others lamented that the new presidential administration of Bola Tinubu has shown little improvement since Muhammadu Buhari left office last May. Since Tinubu became president, “he has not made any statements about the insecurity in the country,” the bishop said. The president never addressed the nation after the 2023 massacre, “which is very painful and disheartening.”
Responding to a question from Congressman Smith, Bishop Anagbe said that the government considers kidnap victims to be the responsibility of their families. Many of them cannot afford to pay ransoms. “The government has been completely inactive in this area, and completely not interested,” he said.
Wolf and Smith both said it’s imperative that the US designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act. The designation, which indicates egregious violations of religious freedom, carries with it 18 sanctions. The Trump Administration had designated Nigeria as a CPC, but the Biden Administration lifted the designation, “without citing any improvement,” Wolf complained.
Congressman Smith recently introduced House Resolution 82, which expresses the sense of Congress regarding the need to designate Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern.
A Catholic-inspired NGO called International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) released a report February 14 saying that since 2009, Nigeria has seen “150,000 religiously motivated defenseless civilian deaths.” The group said that includes about 100,000 Christians, 46,000 moderate Muslims, and 4,000 members of other religions.
Experts urge US to designate Nigeria a "Country of Particular Concern" under International Religious Freedom Act.
If the crimes themselves weren’t so horrific, what would bother a Nigerian bishop the most is the utter lack of response to them.
Bishop Wilfred Anagbe is head of the Diocese of Makurdi, Nigeria, one of the areas that has been plagued for years by violence against Christians. In recent appearances in Washington, DC, including testimony before a congressional subcommittee this week, Bishop Anagbe said that Nigeria’s president has yet to speak out about a Christmas massacre that took the lives of more than 200 Christians not far from his diocese. The bloodshed in the north-central Nigerian state of Plateau began on Christmas Eve and lasted several days.
During a February 14 hearing of the Subcommittee on Africa of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Chris Smith, R-NJ, said that to date, no one has been held to account for that massacre, which has been blamed on marauding Fulani militants. According to Smith, Bishop Anagbe, and other observers, that’s pretty much par for the course.
Though one witness at the hearing, which considered “The Future of Freedom in Nigeria,” cautioned that there are multiple reasons for such violence, Bishop Anagbe and others focused on the violations of religious freedom that have been carried out or tolerated in Nigeria in recent years.
Bishop Anagbe painted a grim picture of ongoing attacks against Christian villages and desperate IDPs – internally displaced persons – who must endure subhuman conditions in refugee camps.
He and others lamented that the new presidential administration of Bola Tinubu has shown little improvement since Muhammadu Buhari left office last May. Since Tinubu became president, “he has not made any statements about the insecurity in the country,” the bishop said. The president never addressed the nation after the 2023 massacre, “which is very painful and disheartening.”
Kidnappings
In his testimony, Anagbe explained that most of the 6 million inhabitants of Benue State, where his diocese is, are subsistence farmers living on ancestral farms. Almost all are Christian, and 80% are Catholic. A total of 2.225 million have been “brutally driven from their land by militant Fulani” and now live as IDPs.Aside from attacks on villages and brutal killings, another problem Nigerians are dealing with is kidnapping. The abductions have included several priests and nuns, Anagbe said.
Responding to a question from Congressman Smith, Bishop Anagbe said that the government considers kidnap victims to be the responsibility of their families. Many of them cannot afford to pay ransoms. “The government has been completely inactive in this area, and completely not interested,” he said.
Champion of religious freedom
Also speaking at the hearing was former Congressman Frank Wolf of Virginia, widely recognized as a champion of international religious freedom. Having retired from Congress in 2015, Wolf serves as a commissioner of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, a body that owes its existence in large part to Wolf himself. He was author of the International Freedom Act of 1998, which created USCIRF and the Office of International Religious Freedom at the US Department of State.Wolf and Smith both said it’s imperative that the US designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act. The designation, which indicates egregious violations of religious freedom, carries with it 18 sanctions. The Trump Administration had designated Nigeria as a CPC, but the Biden Administration lifted the designation, “without citing any improvement,” Wolf complained.
Congressman Smith recently introduced House Resolution 82, which expresses the sense of Congress regarding the need to designate Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern.
In 15 years, Wolf said, more than 85,000 innocent people have been murdered in Nigeria, including Muslims.
A Catholic-inspired NGO called International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) released a report February 14 saying that since 2009, Nigeria has seen “150,000 religiously motivated defenseless civilian deaths.” The group said that includes about 100,000 Christians, 46,000 moderate Muslims, and 4,000 members of other religions.
