Your visit brings no hope to Nigerians, the deadliest country for Christians, Nigerian/US attorney blasts Blinken

Barrister. Emmanuel Ogebe, a prominent international human rights lawyer based in Washington D.C. of the U.S./Nigeria Law Group, has lambasted U.S. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, saying his visit will brings no succour to Nigerians, especially Christians.

Barrister. Ogebe made the remarks on his social media handle on Tuesday, while referring to Nigeria in a piece entitled “Blinken’s visit to the deadliest country on earth for Christians, brings no hope“.

Ogebe, whose role contributed in shaping US Congressional and foreign policy on Nigeria, noted that Nigeria has been adjudged the deadliest country for Christians.

Barrister. Emmanuel Ogebe of the U.S./Nigeria Law Group

He said that extraordinarily bloody Christmas massacres began with letters to Christians of impending attack and well-coordinated 48-hour carnage that killed hundreds, displacing thousands in 30 communities.

He, therefore, noted that Blinken visits to Nigeria weeks after, like his last visit, offers nom hope to the martyrs in the deadliest nation on earth for Christians.

He regretted that just two weeks ago, Blinken’s “annual religious persecution ranking glaringly omitted Nigeria”, same day a pastor was killed with a dozen congregants in church by a different Jihadist group.

He recalled that Open Doors’ World Watchlist’s data showed Nigeria had 82% of all Christian deaths in 2023, which fatalities did not include the Christmas massacres in Plateau state.

“It is the 12th out of 13 years that more Christians died in Nigeria than the rest of the world combined,” Ogebe wrote.

He wondered what could possibly cause the US to overlook the horrendous slaughter of women and children in their homes in a grotesque 7th October-like terrorist remake.

He wrote further: “The Religious Freedom rankings usually emerge in December like in 2020 when Secretary Pompeo designated Nigeria a country of particular concern (CPC.)

“Blinken’s November release while already in Africa seemed especially convenient and self-serving.

“Then this year’s came in January just weeks before Blinken returned to the scene of the crime.

“Anyone would be forgiven for thinking Blinken is sacrificing Nigeria’s Christians on the altar of his Africa jamborees. Nero did that to the Christians too!

“Sadly, however, Blinken is just the latest poster child of a callous Frankenstein that masquerades as US human rights policy – though worse. Much worse.”

Ogebe recalled that Secretary Hilary Clinton rebuffed multiple entreaties from the human rights community and even US agencies to designate top global terror group Boko Haram a “Foreign Terrorist Organization”.

He, however, noted that Secretary Kerry finally did the FTO designation in the Obama second term after much work with congress to introduce a bill to that effect had been done.

Regarding Blinken disposition towards the plight of Nigerian victims of ethno-religious massacre, he stated:

“As for Blinken, Sec. 102 of International Religious Freedom Act “Directs the Secretary of State to submit to the Congress… an Annual Report on International Religious Freedom describing: (1) the status of religious freedom in each foreign country, including trends toward improvement in the respect and protection of the right to religious freedom and trends toward deterioration of such right.”

“This is an obligatory annual requirement which Blinken has violated by rigging the report and ridding it of Nigeria contrary to IRFA (Frank Wolf’s Law) for three years straight.

“Then there’s the false State Dept narrative that these massacres are a “clash”, “competition over resources” and consequence of “climate change.”

“Not only does the Denial State of the State Department exacerbate the deaths but rather than help victims in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, the US has misspent countless taxpayer monies on nebulous conferences and projects re-educating Nigerian journalists not to report religious conflict while actively denigrating religious freedom advocates for advocacy.

“The dubious disappearance of Nigeria from the IRF review after 20years is not the only erasure of current history by the US government. The US Global Terrorism Index which previously ranked the Fulani Militia (responsible for the Christmas massacres) as the 4th deadliest terrorists in the world after Boko Haram and ISIS has since muted reports on Fulani terrorism.

“This is apart from the failed attempt by 20 American academics led by former U.S. ambassador John Campbell to stop the US designation of Boko Haram as terrorists at the instigation of the state department 12 years ago!”

According to him, Blinken ordered the first terror-related mass evacuation in history of hundreds of US embassy Abuja diplomats and families.

Weeks later, he omitted Nigeria again from the religious persecution list even though American officials and private citizens had themselves become victims like Nigerians.

These development, he noted, prompted hid conclusion that Blinken’s visit will brings no succour to Nigerian Christians.

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