I received with delight the news that the U.S. President has announced the redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for egregious religious persecution for only the second time in the over 25-year history of the International Religious Freedom Act (aka the Frank Wolf Bill.)
See President Donald Trump’s announcement designating Nigeria a COC below:
BREAKING NEWS: President Donald Trump announces designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern for egregious religious persecution
“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed.
“Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter.
“I am hereby making Nigeria a “COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN” — But that is the least of it.
“When Christians, or any such group, is slaughtered like is happening in Nigeria (3,100 versus 4,476 Worldwide), something must be done!
“I am asking Congressman Riley Moore, together with Chairman Tom Cole and the House Appropriations Committee, to immediately look into this matter, and report back to me.
“The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other Countries.
“We stand ready, willing, and able to save our Great Christian population around the World!”
DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump, truthsocial.com) [END]
What “Country of Particular Concern” may mean for Nigeria
It is unclear whether the designation comes with a sanctions waiver that occurred last time in 2020, but I believe both nations should dialogue on a path forward.
Secondly, it is unfortunate that the Nigerian government chose to bury its head in the sand and engage in spin doctoring and performative outrage instead of addressing a truth known and suffered by millions of Nigerians despite repeated advice to act on the issues.
As I said on my Arise TV interview last week, the designation at this point was a foregone conclusion. However, it is not too late for Nigeria to reverse course.
Thirdly I urge the U.S. government to expand the number of refugees from the 7500 cap just instituted which is limited to white South Africans alone.
There are actual killings of farmers in Africa and an arguable genocide, but it is in West Africa not South Africa.
Last year thousands of farmers, mostly Christians, were slaughtered by jihadi Fulani herdsmen in what the U.S. and others literally call “farmer/herder clashes.”
And Trump knows about this.
In his first term, he stated directly to Nigeria’s visiting president Muhammadu Buhari at the white house, “you need to stop the killing of Christians” – over seven years ago.
The killings have continued unabated including multiple massacres with victims as young as eight months old.
White South Africans versus black Nigerians
Months ago, my team helped obtain a prosthetic arm for Alice whose husband, his parents and brother were slaughtered alongside her two kids in the Zikke Palm Sunday massacre of 54.
Her last child was stabbed with a machete and Alice’s hand chopped off. (See the attached images.)
Trump’s policy action back then after he acknowledged Nigerian Christians’ killings in 2018 was banning Nigerians from the U.S.
Now as he’s granting refugee status to white South Africans who have suffered nothing close to what Nigeria’s Christian farming communities are experiencing, it is important that Nigeria’s persecuted are co-opted too.
Since 1990, less than 2000 white farmers have been killed in South Africa.
In the last two years, 2000 and 7000 farmers were killed in Plateau & Benue states in Nigeria. That’s on average 40 killed annually in SA to 40 in four days in Nigeria.
This month, 5000 people were forcibly displaced from Kirawa in the predominantly Christian Gwoza District in Borno State following an attack by Boko Haram that destroyed their town.
3000 of them are now refugees in Cameroon.
Refugee status for Nigerians
This is a continuous pattern in Gwoza which has been vastly de-Christianized over the last dozen years with over 50,000 Gwoza Christians in refugee camps in Cameroon as at 10 years ago.
Yet rather than resettle them abroad, they’re being returned to Nigeria where their community is still occupied by Boko Haram and people still being killed.
In fairness, Trump’s recognition of Christian persecution in Nigeria is actually legitimate and ironically an improvement on U.S. denialist policies of past Democrat administrations.
Past administrations claimed Muslim Fulani killer herdsmen jihadi militia that slash and burn thousands of communities chanting “Allahu Akbar” (God is Great in Arabic) is not terrorism or religious.
However, he must match policy recognition with appropriate policy action.
Finally I call on the Nigerian government to establish a high powered commission to investigate and engage with these concerns to work on Nigeria’s performance improvement plan towards Nigeria’s future delisting.
The innocent shed blood of martyrs has been vindicated.
About the author, Emmanuel Ogebe
Emmanuel Ogebe, Esq, is an award-winning international human rights lawyer based in Washington D. C. who has played a role shaping US Congressional and foreign policy on Nigeria.
Mr. Ogebe has been a guest speaker at university campuses across the US and radio and TV programs around the world, including CNN, Fox, Al Jazeera, BBC, the Geneva Summit, United Nations, World Bank, the Canadian Parliament etc.
His decades of advocacy led to the US designations of Boko Haram as a foreign terrorist organization (2013), Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (2020) and International Criminal Court Prosecutor’s determination of crimes against humanity in Nigeria (2020) to mention a few achievements.
He was consulted by Presidents Clinton (2000) and Bush’s Administrations (2003) on their visits to Nigeria.
He currently serves as Special Counsel for the “Justice for Jos” Project, advocating for and assisting survivors/victims of terror.
Mr Ogebe is a recipient of several awards including President Obama (2009), the Darfur Women Action Group (2016), Diaspora groups in the US as well as US States and local authorities’ citations and recognitions in Florida, Arkansas and New Jersey amongst others.
Emmanuel Ogebe, this year, received a Diaspora award from the Nigerian government as an outstanding citizen abroad for his humanitarian work and development of the law.
The award was bestowed at Nigeria’s presidential villa where he was once a political prisoner of a military dictatorship on the 29th anniversary of his captivity.
He came on exile to the U.S. a year after his imprisonment.