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US to sanction Nigeria for violating religious freedoms
The United States says Nigeria has been engaging in systematic, ongoing, egregious religious freedom violations.
The Donald Trump administration has included Nigeria on a list of countries that violates religious freedoms, as a dress rehearsal for sanctions for Africa’s most populous country and largest economy.
United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, wrote on his Twitter page that “today the U.S. designates Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, the DPRK, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as countries of concern under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 for engaging systematic, ongoing, egregious religious freedom
“The U.S. is unwavering in its commitment to religious freedom. No country or entity should be allowed to persecute people with impunity because of their beliefs. These annual designations show that when religious freedom is attacked, we will act.”
Today the U.S. designates Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, the DPRK, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as countries of concern under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 for engaging systematic, ongoing, egregious religious freedom violations.
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) December 7, 2020
The designation means that the U.S can impose certain sanctions on Nigeria bordering on trade, counter-terrorism and bilateral cooperation because it now considers Nigeria a non-secular, police state that tramples on the rights of individuals to choose who they worship.
On paper, Nigeria is evenly split between a predominantly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south and subscribes to the notion of secularity in its constitution.
However, religious minorities in the north of Nigeria, particularly in southern Kaduna, have long bemoaned torture and killings at the hands of a predominantly Muslim population. Shiite Muslims in Nigeria have also faced attacks on the streets from the state.
