USCIRF Releases New Report on Religious Freedom in Nigeria’s Kano State

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following new report detailing religious freedom violations by Kano state authorities in northern Nigeria:

Kano State Issue Update – This report catalogues recent religious freedom violations committed by Kano state authorities, which represent some of the most egregious in Nigeria. In recent years—including in 2021—Kano authorities have arrested, charged, and convicted several individuals of blasphemy, prohibited broadcast stations from airing religious content, restricted religious poets and performers, and arrested and detained individuals from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) community based on the enforcement of their interpretation of Shari’a (Islamic law).

In its 2021 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. State Department designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations. USCIRF published a factsheet on violent Islamist groups in northern Nigeria in 2021 and featured a podcast episode on “Why the State Department Should Re-designate Nigeria as a CPC.”

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].

USCIRF Alarmed by Violence against Christians & Shi’a Muslims in Nigeria

 
Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today condemned recent instances of violence against religious communities in Nigeria, including attacks on Christians in Kano state and Kaduna state and violence against Shi’a Muslims in Abuja.
 
“Vulnerable religious communities in Nigeria are under attack,” said USCIRF Commissioner Tony Perkins. “We are devastated by news of these recent attacks and outraged that the Nigerian government has not done more to prevent this violence and bring justice to the perpetrators.”
 
On Sunday, September 26 a violent mob in Kano State attacked and killed Christian Reverend Yohanna Shuaibu, in retaliation for his alleged involvement in converting a local member of a Muslim family to Christianity. That same day, armed militants attacked two Christian communities in Kaduna state, killing 49 people. Kaduna State is a Muslim majority state where Christian communities have borne the brunt of a vicious ethnoreligious conflict for many years. On Tuesday, September 28, Nigerian security forces reportedly shot and killed eight Shi’a Muslims in their response to a Shi’a procession marking the holiday of Arbaeen.
 
“Three attacks on vulnerable religious communities in three days is unacceptable,” said USCIRF Commissioner Frederick A. Davie. “We call on the U.S. Department of State to redesignate Nigeria a country of particular concern for engaging in and tolerating these systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of international religious freedom.”
 
USCIRF recently addressed the topic of religious freedom conditions in Nigeria on an episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast. In its 2021 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State redesignate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, and Boko Haram as an “entity of particular concern,” or EPC. USCIRF has also produced recent analyses on religious freedom conditions in Nigeria and violations committed by militant Islamist groups in northern Nigeria.
 

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion or belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].

For many years, USCIRF has been deeply concerned about religious freedom conditions in Central Asia, and more recently the impact of the Taliban’s rise to power in Afghanistan on the surrounding region.

Since 2012, USCIRF has recommended that the State Department designate Tajikistan a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), in response to the government’s increasing repression following the passage of a strict religion law in 2009. The State Department followed this recommendation in 2016 and has designated Tajikistan a CPC every year since.

USCIRF Senior Policy Analyst Jason Morton joins us to discuss religious freedom conditions in Tajikistan as well as how recent developments in neighboring Afghanistan potentially complicate these conditions. He also explores the danger of using security challenges to curb religious freedom.

Click here to view USCIRF’s hearing on religious regulation in Russia and Central Asia

Click here to read USCIRF’s report on the abuse of extremism and terrorism laws in Tajikistan

Follow the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast on  iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Pandora, and Google Podcasts to get notifications of our weekly episodes.