Blinken Urged to Act Over Slaughter of Christians In Nigeria

(ConservativeInsider.org) – Two dozen religious and human rights groups are pushing for the Biden administration to designate the African country of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” after nearly 200 Christians were slaughtered in the country on Christmas. The groups sent a letter to American Secretary of State Antony Blinken, chastising the State Department for their “unconscionable” decision to not list Nigeria as a CPC.

The advocacy groups are being led by Advancing American Freedom, which was founded by former Vice President Mike Pence. Other people and groups that signed on to the letter include former defense and national security officials, the Hudson Institute, and Alliance Defending Freedom. Sam Brownback, the former American Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, also signed on to the letter.

The letter states that the Nigerian-based non-profit, the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), reports that 52,000 Christians have been killed since 2009, and more than 14 million have been forced to flee the country. More than 18,000 Christian churches have been attacked in that same time period as well. The Pew Research Center says that Nigeria is home to the largest population of Christians in Africa, with more than 80 million Christians in the nation.

Walid Phares, a political analyst who has studied Jihadists in Africa for decades and authored the book “The Confrontation: Winning the War against Future Jihad,” said one of the greatest threats to Christians and moderate Muslims in Africa is Jihadists, who repress moderate Muslims and attack Christians. He said Boko Haram is becoming Nigeria’s ISIS. Rev. Johnnie Moore, who previously served as a commissioner for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, said Nigeria is the worst place in the world to be a Christian due to how many attacks on Christians have taken place in the country.

Reports from witnesses in Nigeria said that it took over 12 hours for help to arrive after the Christmas day attacks. According to Ty Danjuma, former chief of army staff in Nigeria, government troops were helping the attackers.