Continued attacks on religious minorities by Islamist militants have prompted calls for Nigeria to be restored to the Country of Particular Concern list of nations that are the worst violators of religious freedom.
In Africa’s most populous nation, a deadly cycle of violence has unfolded for several years, with Christian clergy and laypeople — as well as moderate Muslims — falling victim to murder and kidnapping.
The Christian nonprofit Open Doors recently reported about 3,100 Christians in 2024 were killed and more than 2,000 kidnapped in Nigeria.
On March 12, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, held a hearing on religious freedom violations in Nigeria.
Calls for targeted economic sanctions
The hearing included testimony from Catholic Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of the Diocese of Makurdi, in central Nigeria, and Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, a former U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom commissioner.
Anagbe accused the Nigerian government and police of not acting to stop the violence, and he told the subcommittee in addition to killings, kidnapping and rape, Christians are routinely denied public office.
“We live in fear, because at any point it can be our turn to be killed,” the bishop said.
Perkins appealed to the White House during the hearing to reassert Country of Particular Concern status on Nigeria under the International Religious Freedom Act that allows the U.S. president to impose economic penalties.
“The U.S. should apply targeted economic sanctions on Nigerian officials that are complicit in religious persecution,” he said, adding that trade and security agreements should be used to pressure the government.
Perkins also called for the Trump administration to name a new ambassador for international religious freedom.
In Nigeria, John Joseph Hayab, a Baptist minister and chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in 19 Northern States, told RNS, “No one desires that their country is in the list, but putting Nigeria back there should encourage the government to act.”
Hayab said violence in Nigeria is not limited to Christians, and the designation would awaken the government to act for justice and give equal rights to all, so no sect is treated as superior to another.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Fredrick Nzwili and originally published by Religion News Service.
