Fourteen members of the United States Congress have written to that country’s Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, asking him to “reverse” the removal of Nigeria from the religious persecution list, which they said is tantamount to giving the Nigerian Government a “license to kill”.
Congress members Mary E. Miller; Mark Green, MD; Gus Bilirakis; Tracy Mann; Michael Guest; Louie Gohmert; Bob Good; Ralph Norman; Vicky Hartzler; Mo Brooks; Brian Babin, D.D.S.; Lauren Boebert; Dan Bishop; and Michael Cloud made their opinion known in a a letter dated Dec 9, 2021.
Their letter reads:
“Secretary Blinken:
“One of our founding ideals as a nation is to allow citizens the freedom to practice religion and to maintain that freedom to do so. As a result of this core value, we as a nation are compelled to promote religious freedom around the world and point it out when other counties are not. We are deeply troubled by your recent decision to remove Nigeria from the list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC).
“This decision is egregious. Your action undermines the United States’ commitment to protecting international religious freedom. Nigeria, being the most populous country in Africa, is home to 80 million professing Christians. Millions of Christians living in Nigeria face some of the worst acts of persecution, causing many to flee as a result of the devastating violence. Since June of 2015, there have been 11,000 Nigerian Christians killed by jihadists, radicalized herdsmen from the Fulani tribe and the emerging Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram. 1,202 of those killings happened in the first six months of 2020. In 2021 alone, an estimated 3,462 Christians have been killed.
“We find this decision highly suspect, as it came just days before your trip to Africa to meet with Nigerian officials. It also goes directly against the 2021 recommendations for Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) and Special Watch List (SWL) by United States Commission on
International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
“This decision is egregious. Your refusal to listen to the recommendations of the USCIRF and blatant disregard to the atrocities in Nigeria lacks necessary condemnation to those currently committing religious persecution abroad.
“We implore you to reconsider this decision.”
