WASHINGTON, D.C. – Indeed, earlier this year in May, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) added six new countries to its list of nations responsible for committing violations of religious freedom. Nigeria featured in that list, alongside, Pakistan, Afghanistan, North Korea, China, Iran and Iraq.
According to the CFN, "the government of Nigeria has done little to prevent sectarian violence and there have been no serious efforts to investigate or prosecute the perpetrators of the numerous sectarian killings and crimes that have occurred over the past 10 years.
On May 1, under the auspices of the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, USCIRF recommended that Nigeria be named as a "Country of Particular Concern (CPC)", a category designated for egregious abusers of religious freedom, which includes the concept of gross failure to act to prevent severe violations.
