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Pressure mounts on Biden to return Nigeria on US watchlist
Nigeria, again came under the radar for scrutiny in the US, with Chris Smith, a leading human rights champion in Congress, and several other top religious freedom experts, pressing the President Joe Biden’s administration to reverse course and add Nigeria, India, Vietnam, and Afghanistan to its blacklist of worst offenders when it comes to allowing citizens to practice their faith of choice.
Smith and Rabbi Abraham Cooper, who chairs a government-created independent body that monitors religious freedom violations around the world, on Tuesday questioned the administration’s decision against placing those countries on the State Department’s list of “Countries of Particular Concern,” or CPCs, citing years of well-documented evidence of “particularly severe” violations.
The omission of those countries, especially Nigeria, from the official U.S. religious freedom blacklist has spurred controversy among many human rights groups, since Secretary of State Antony Blinken removed it from the blacklist in 2021, reversing a decision by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in December 2020 to designate the West African nation as a CPC.
Earlier this year, Smith introduced legislation that calls on the Biden administration to designate Nigeria as a CPC and appoint a special envoy to the country and the Lake Chad region to monitor and combat atrocities there.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, is the most dangerous place in the world to be a Christian, even though Christians make up nearly half of Nigeria’s population of 200 million. Islamist radicals, including terror groups such as Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province, and radicalized Faluni tribesmen, regularly attack entire Christian communities, torching churches and villages, and kidnapping and killing pastors and their congregations.
The violence against Christians has taken place for decades but has escalated in recent years in what Rabbi Cooper on Tuesday described as a “slow-motion genocide.” According to the religious freedom watchdog Open Doors International, more than 5,000 Christians were killed in Nigeria last year alone, accounting for nearly 90% of Christian deaths worldwide.
The Biden administration attributes the slaughter of Christians in Nigeria not to religious persecution but to a conflict over resources exacerbated by climate change.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, or USCIRF, which Cooper chairs, and other leading human rights organizations ardently disagree.
“I think that many, many people in this country, including people in positions of responsibility, have difficulty coming to grips with the fact that religion and theology do play a strong role,” Cooper said at Tuesday’s hearing. “The Christians of Nigeria are understandably deeply worried about their future and are deeply concerned about their physical safety.”
Last December, USCIRF, which makes recommendations to the State Department, issued a rare sharply worded statement expressing “outrage” over the agency’s omission of Nigeria and India from the CPC blacklist, accusing Secretary of State Blinken of turning “a blind eye” to the countries’ serious religious freedom violations.
“There is no justification for the State Department’s failure to recognize Nigeria or India as egregious violators of religious freedom, as they clearly meet the standards for designation as CPCs,” the commission wrote.
Smith, who chairs the Foreign Affairs subcommittee on global health, global human rights, and international organizations, didn’t mince words, pressing Rashad Hussain, Biden’s ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom, for an explanation.
“Why was Nigeria taken off the lists just before Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Abuja?” Smith asked Hussain.
“I am concerned that the U.S. State Department is not using all the tools provided to hold guilty parties accountable,” he added.
Hussain appeared to agree with both Smith and Cooper on the countries in question but said his office is just beginning work on its annual report, which provides detailed information about every country’s religious freedom record. The office is expected to issue its findings in November.
“I share your concerns,” Hussain told Smith. “I don’t think we have much disagreement in terms of the substance of what’s happening on the ground.”
Hussain also noted that he and other people in his office have engaged directly with all of the top officials in India, Vietnam, and Nigeria, and that he met with former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, a military leader who was elected in 2015 on a platform of increasing security and curbing corruption.
Many Nigerians say these issues worsened under his watch. Earlier this year, Nigeria elected Bola Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State who fought as a pro-democracy activist in the 1990s, but the election is deeply disputed.
“I want to be clear that the CPC designation is one of the tools that we have, but there is a myriad of tools that we’re using to address the situation,” Hussain added. “And we will continue to do so because we continue to be concerned about the religious freedom conditions of all of these countries.”
Dr. Eric Patterson, president of the Religious Freedom Institute, said violent Islamist extremists have destabilized Nigeria and are accelerating its “downward spiral.”
“In Nigeria’s middle belt, sectarian violence has resulted in abductions, forced conversions, and thousands of deaths, the majority of which are ethnoreligious attacks targeting Christian communities and churches.”
USCIRF, a bipartisan body, has recommended the designation of India, a major U.S. ally, as a CPC for four years. Its most recent report said religious freedom conditions have continued to dip in India, and governments at all levels promoted and enforced discriminatory policies, including through “laws targeting religious conversion, interfaith relationships, the wearing of hijabs, and cow slaughter, which negatively impact Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, and Adivasis.”
It also accused India’s government of efforts to suppress the voices of religious minorities through “surveillance, harassment, demolition of property” and detention under its “Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.”
Naming Afghanistan a CPC should be automatic after the Taliban took control of the country on August 15, 2021, and religious freedom conditions immediately deteriorated, Smith argued. The State Department had previously designated the Taliban an “entity of particular concern” for their use of terror to target religious minorities.
Last month, a USCIRF delegation traveled to Vietnam to assess its religious freedom conditions. In its previous annual report, the commission recommended the blacklisting of the Vietnamese government over its law on belief and religion, which requires organizations to register with the state and to harass unregistered religious groups. Religious minorities face “especially egregious” persecution, including physical assault, detention, or banishment for the peaceful practice of their beliefs, according to the commission.
“He is running in contempt of the court. Justice Lifu should be arrested because he is acting in contempt of the court which is a criminal act,” were the exact words with which the African Democratic Congress (ADC), demonstrated its angst over the court ruling on Monday, ordering its de-registration as a political party in Nigeria.
A furious Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesman of the party, told his host while appearing as a guest on Monday’s edition of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television that the judge of the Abuja Federal High Court who gave the order was actually playing with fire because of the consequences.
Directly accusing him of playing the script of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to ensure that President Bola Tinubu emerged the sole candidate for the 2027 presidential election, the party spokesman, was emphatic that the plan would not work, as head or tail, ADC must be on the ballot in all the elections.
Hear him: “There is a Court of Appeal order saying don’t hear this case until October 27. So, on what basis? You can’t place something on nothing. The Court of Appeal said don’t act on this until I hear it on October 27. So, on what basis did he deliver the judgement
“So, for us in the African Democratic Congress, what we’re convinced and they know is what they have done has no leg to stand on legally. What they want to do is to create doubts in the minds of the people that this ADC has too many legal cases, can we actually run on this? And to distract us. But we’re not distracted.
“We’re very clear. It was in spite of all they have done since ADC came on board that we ran one of the best and one of the most comprehensive direct primaries in the history of democracy in Nigeria. So, we are strong enough to withstand this. And that’s why I’m saying that we are going to contest in 2027. We’re ADC. We don’t buckle before dictatorship.”
Stressing on the implication of the judgement, which also affected Accord Party (AP), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) for allegedly failing to meet constitutional and electoral performance requirements, following a suit by the National Forum of Former Legislators, he said it portended grave danger.
He added: “We are not surprised. We know that the Nigerian people believe that there is a problem with the judiciary, but what we did not expect is the level of judicial rascality that was demonstrated today.
“What we are saying is that we reject it in its totality, and we are saying that the people behind this are playing with fire. Hundreds, if not thousands, have obtained nomination forms and contested elections and emerged as candidates on the platform of the ADC.”
Peter Obi, candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), in the 2027 presidential election, is peeved at the decision of the Federal High Court, Abuja, ordering the de-registration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), saying the move is a heavy blow and dangerous to Nigeria’s democracy.
Justice Peter Lifu, who made the order, based on an action brought by National Forum of Former Legislators, agreed that the parties, including Accord Party (AP), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), failed to meet the requirement for continued existence in Nigeria.
But Obi, who left the ADC coalition to join the NDC, incidentally, based on what he explained resulted from the multiple court cases hanging on its neck, expressed his disenchantment, in a statement by the Peter Obi Media Reach (POMR), on Monday.
Signed by Ibrahim Umar, its spokesman, the group quoted the former Governor of Anambra State as decrying the growing damage to the nation’s sacred institutions on the altar of politics.
Stressing that the rise of nations depended on stronger institutions devoid of political influences, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, wrote on his X platform: “When the controversy surrounding the removal of the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, unfolded, I expressed a concern to a friend: that the greatest damage might not be immediate, but the message it sends about the sanctity and independence of our institutions to the world.
“Strong economies are built on trust. Investors can manage security risks, policy risks, and even market risks. What they fear most is uncertainty in the rule of law and a judiciary that is perceived to be vulnerable to political pressure.
“Today, many Nigerians have lost confidence in systems that should protect them. Businesses increasingly request that their contracts be governed by foreign jurisdictions because they have greater confidence in those institutions than in our own. That should concern every patriot.
“We must never sacrifice our sacred institutions on the altar of politics. Nations rise when institutions are stronger than individuals. The Federal High Court judgment ordering the deregistration of the ADC and other political parties is just one of those activities that further reduces the common man’s trust in our legal systems. It should be reversed.
“I pledge that we will restore the dignity, independence, and integrity of the judiciary. The common man must have a voice. The business community must be protected from legal uncertainty and intimidation. Justice must be impartial, accessible, and respected by all. To our judges, legal luminaries, senior advocates, and lawyers: this is your moment. Rise, defend the rule of law, take back your country! A new Nigeria is POssible.”
Not even Lamine Yamal’s second half introduction could help Spain break through the defence of debutants, Cape Verde, in their first ever meeting, as the ongoing World Cup event produced another one of the stunning results on Monday.
Yamal, the Barcelona superstar just recovering from a near two-month hamstring injury, was brought into the game in the second half to zest up the one-time world champion, but failed to break down the Cape Verde’s dogged defence.
Spain’s in the game played in Atlanta, one of the cities hosting the three-nation Mundial, displayed the same dismal outing, which saw them offering far less than the quality, which saw them lifting the trophy for the first time in 2010.
The European champions, which have not won a knockout game ever since, failed to dominate the African side, replicating their less than impressing outings and their eventual exit in 2018 and 2022 editions, even with the claims of coach Luis de la Fuente that the squad was the best in the competition, Spain were considered among the pre-tournament.
Neither Yamal nor Nico Williams, who also was hit by an injury-disrupted season at Athletic Bilbao and was not introduced until the 87th minute, were able to rise to the occasion against the 500,000 people African side, ranked 67 in the world, which is making their debut on the global stage.
In stark contrast to the searing temperatures faced by some other sides, Atlanta’s state-of-the-art air conditioned stadium meant there was no excuses for the slow tempo of Spain’s build-up.
Indeed the mid-half hydration break was met by boos with fans frustrated at the break in play despite the cool conditions.
The only serious move from the European champions only came at the sixth minute to half-time, when Marc Cucurella, fresh for sealing his move from Chelsea to Real Madrid, sent over a teasing cross that Ferran Torres turned onto the crossbar and Cabo Verde goalkeeper Vozinha got back on his feet to turn Mikel Oyarzabal’s looping header over the bar.
Even after the break, the Blue Sharks, were also able to hold back from the onslaught as they did in the first half, where Vozinho, managed to make another superlative save against Aymeric Laporte’s header just before half-time.
Despite the excitement from the crowd after he was introduced, Yamal, billed as one of the stars of the tournament, failed to create any magic with his first touch being the set-up of a decent opening for fellow substitute Mikel Merino which was too close to Vozinha.
In fact, Cabo Verde billed to take on Uruguay in Miami, nearly snatched a famous victory in the final minute of the 90 when Dani Borges planted a header too close to Unai Simon, who saved the occasion, to prevent the former world champions, billed to face Saudi Arabia in Atlanta on Sunday from humiliation.
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