US Officials Say Violence against Christians Persists in Nigeria One Year after CPC Designation

United States officials say violence against Christians in Nigeria has not abated, one year after President Donald Trump re-designated it a “country of particular concern” (CPC).

On Thursday, Chris Smith, chairman of the US house foreign affairs sub-committee on Africa, led a congressional hearing on Nigeria’s response to attacks on vulnerable communities since the CPC designation.

Smith said the CPC designation was a “wake-up call for Nigeria and an urgent call to action to protect religious believers—mostly Christians—who have been victims of brutal attacks by ethnic Fulani militia and other terrorist groups, like Boko Haram and ISIS West Africa”.

Giving his assessment, Riley Barnes, assistant secretary, bureau of democracy, human rights, and labour at the state department, said while Nigeria had taken proactive steps to curb the violence, “we have not seen that equal or turn into actual on-the-ground greater safety and security for these Christians in the Middle Belt”.

“There are still rising death tolls and kidnappings. So, I think we have this posture of trust but verify,” Barnes added.

Frank Garcia, assistant secretary, bureau of African affairs at the state department, told Congress that the department had worked intensively with Nigerian officials to confront the persecution of Christian communities and to hold perpetrators accountable.

Garcia noted that despite the diplomatic engagement, the violence had not stopped.

Riley Moore, a Republican member of the US house of representatives, said the lack of sufficient progress warranted retaining Nigeria’s CPC designation.

“We cannot take this CPC designation off this country. They have not done enough,” Moore said.

“We need to be watching these (Nigeria) presidential elections like a hawk. And I’m going to be watching them.”

Smith said Congress would determine what additional measures are needed to end the violence and prevent further atrocities against Christian communities in Nigeria.