US report exposes continued violation of religious rights in Nigeria

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) highlighted in a report last weekend that religious freedom in Nigeria is continually being violated.

The report provides an update on what it describes as ongoing systematic and persistent restrictions on freedom of religion or belief in Nigeria.

In particular, the US commission noted that several states in Nigeria currently enforce blasphemy laws to prosecute members of religious groups, including Christians, Muslims and secular humanists.

“The government continues to tolerate blatant violence against religious groups by non-state actors such as the Islamic State-West Africa Province (ISWAP), JAS/Boko Haram and other extremist groups.

“This violence affects large numbers of Christians and Muslims in several states in Nigeria and targets both religious sites and individuals from religious communities,” the commission stressed.

In its 2024 annual report, the USCIRF therefore recommended that the US State Department designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for its involvement in what it called a systematic, ongoing, and egregious violation of religious freedom.

The USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan federal government agency created by the United States Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad.

USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the U.S. President, Secretary of State, and Congress designed to discourage religious persecution and promote freedom of religion or belief.

Stephen Schneck is chairman of the organization, while Eric Ueland is vice chairman of the U.S. commission.

It was pointed out that the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria provides that the federal and state governments shall not adopt an official religion. At the same time, the Constitution allows for the use of Sharia and traditional courts for non-criminal proceedings at the state level, but does not oblige all citizens to adhere to them.

It was stated that currently 12 states in Northern Nigeria, together with the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have implemented Sharia law and some states apply Sharia in criminal matters.

“Shariah codes prohibit blasphemy and other offenses based on Islamic law as interpreted by each state’s supreme court. Sharia courts use a religiously based penal code, including for serious offenses, and specify punishments such as flogging, amputation, and stoning.

“The Nigerian government continues to imprison individuals accused of blasphemy and frequently fails to prosecute perpetrators of violence related to blasphemy allegations,” the US said.

For example, the U.S. commission found that in 2020, Nigerian authorities arrested humanitarian Mubarak Bala on charges of blasphemy over a Facebook post deemed insulting to Islam. In 2022, the Kano State High Court sentenced him to 24 years in prison.

In February 2024, the US commission’s report explained that the Kano State Court of Appeals had allowed Bala’s appeal, and in May the court sentenced him to five years in prison.

In another case, Sufi Muslim Yahava Sharif-Amina was said to have been jailed since 2022 for sharing audio messages deemed “insulting to religious beliefs.”

Furthermore, the report noted that Nigerian authorities arrested Sufi Sheikh Abduljabar Nasiru Kabaru for blasphemy in 2021 and sentenced him to death in 2022, stressing that he is still in prison.

“The government arrested Muslim Ismaila Sani Isah in 2021 on blasphemy charges and he remains in prison. Sufi cleric Abdulazeez Inyass, arrested in 2015 on blasphemy charges, remains in prison and faces the death penalty.

“Authorities released Christian Rhoda Jatau from prison on bail in December 2023, but she still faces charges of “inciting public disorder” and “contempt for her religious beliefs” following her arrest in May 2022.

“The Nigerian government at both the federal and state levels continues to tolerate attacks by non-state actors who express their violence on religious grounds. Islamist and some Fulani militant groups have declared their aim to overthrow secular governance with the intention of enforcing a unique interpretation of Islam,” the report stressed.

It was revealed that there are about 30,000 Fulani bandits operating in different groups in northwestern Nigeria. These groups consist of 10 to 1,000 members.

“These groups are engaged in violence and banditry, mainly targeting Christian communities in Nigeria. They generally pose the greatest threat to security in northwestern Nigeria.

“This activity includes kidnapping, rape, theft of property and livestock, illegal possession of weapons, and murder. The specific perpetrators and motivations behind individual attacks can be difficult to verify,” the USCIRF said.

However, the commission states that the attacks in the northwest, northeast and central parts of Nigeria constitute a significant restriction of freedom of religion and belief, particularly for the predominantly Christian communities living there.

“Fulani-associated banditry, which has been prevalent for years, has become a transnational security dilemma. The conflict is exacerbated by competition for natural resources between often Christian farmers and often Muslim Fulani herders.

“By 2024, the conflict had drastically impacted food production and regional trade and led to illegal, bandit-enforced tax campaigns that primarily targeted Christian farmers,” the commission said.

It was alleged that Fulani bandits also carry out kidnappings to extort ransom from middle-class and working-class families.

“In several cases, they have kidnapped students from Christian schools or from buses that take children to these schools. Gangs generally release hostages unharmed if families meet ransom demands.

“Families of victims have criticized the government for its slowness to respond to and rescue victims of kidnappings. They have also criticized the government’s failure to prevent such kidnappings.

“The Nigerian president has urged the families of the victims not to pay ransoms to deter further crimes. President Bola Tinubu has also promised that the government will use more ‘detailed strategies’ in response to the kidnappings, without explaining what those strategies would entail,” the group said.

Emmanuel Addeh