USCIRF Designates Nigeria among "Countries of Particular Concern"

USCIRF Designates Nigeria among "Countries of Particular Concern"

By Ortindin Loho - Benue State, Nigeria, 

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has classified Nigeria and other sixteen countries as "Countries of Particular Concern," CPC.

Country of Particular Concern, C

PC, is a designation by the United States Secretary of State, under authority delegated by the President, of a nation guilty of particularly severe violations of religious freedom under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).

According to its 2018 Annual Report, Nigeria is among countries that have violated religious freedom. This could be largely attributed to the killings of Christians in the Middle belt where two Priest and seventeen faithful were killed in a Mass and other killings across the Christian dominated areas.

The report states: "In Nigeria, the government failed to prevent or stop increasing violence along religious lines or hold perpetrators to account."

Also, the report showed that Nigeria, Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan Pakistan, Russia, Syria, and Vietnam have been placed on Tier 1 the USCIRF spot that indicates countries with high level of religious violation.