SR123

A Senate Resolution urging the United States Secretary of State to designate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” and to appoint a Special Envoy for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region.

Whereas, In 2020, the Department of State designated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” (“CPC”) pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.), finding that Nigeria was engaging in or tolerating systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom, but omitted Nigeria from the CPC list in 2021 and 2022; and

Whereas, For over a decade, terrorist organizations have perpetrated mass murders, rapes, and kidnappings against Nigerians of various religious backgrounds, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports this has resulted in over 3 million internally displaced persons in northeastern Nigeria and 343,000 registered refugee Nigerians in the Lake Chad region; and

Whereas, The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has noted that, in Nigeria’s Middle Belt area, nonstate armed groups have attacked houses of worship, religious ceremonies, and religious leaders, and the Nigerian government has often failed to sufficiently respond to these acts of violence; and

Whereas, According to a 2020 Vatican report of its interview of a Nigerian Catholic civil rights expert, Northern Nigeria has seen the destruction of over 17,000 churches since 2009 in attacks by Boko Haram militants, Fulani herdsmen and other assailants; and

Whereas, Open Doors has reported that 5,014 Christians were killed in Nigeria in 2022, which was nearly 90 percent of the total number of Christians killed worldwide that year; and

Whereas, On May 12, 2022, Deborah Yakubu, a Christian student, was beaten to death by a mob on her school campus in Sokoto for allegedly making statements against Islam, and the Sultan of Sokoto and Sokoto’s Catholic Bishop Matthew Kukah faced death threats for criticizing her murder; and

Whereas, The Aid to the Church in Need, a pastoral aid organization, and the Catholic News Agency have separately reported that, since early 2022, 20 Nigerian Catholic priests have been kidnapped, five of whom were murdered, with many of these attacks occurring on church grounds; and

Whereas, The Sahara Reporters and other news outlets reported in 2022, that eight Fulani militants abducted and tortured the head Chaplain of the Methodist Church, Prelate Samuel Kanu-Uche, and Catholic Bishop Dennis Mark of Owerri, who were released only after paying a $240,000 ransom; and

Whereas, According to Reuters as well as Nigerian media outlets, imams were also abducted in Nigeria in 2022, with the Chief Imam of Masama Mudi village, Zamfara, being abducted from his mosque on December 29, 2022, and an imam being abducted in Zugu, Zamfara state in a mosque attack on September 2, 2022; and

Whereas, In 2021, the Department of State reported five attacks on mosques in Nigeria by unidentified gunmen, bandits, and Boko Haram; and

Whereas, Given these recent, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom, the United States Secretary of State should designate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” and appoint a Special Envoy for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region to aid in providing liberty, justice, and equality for all of the religious groups of Nigeria; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey:

1. The United States Secretary of State is respectfully urged to designate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” and appoint a Special Envoy for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region.

2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate, to the President, Vice President, and Secretary of State of the United States.

STATEMENT

This resolution urges the United States Secretary of State to designate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” and to appoint a Special Envoy for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region.

In 2020, the Department of State designated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (“CPC”) finding that Nigeria was engaging in or tolerating systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom, but omitted Nigeria from the CPC list in 2021 and 2022.

For over a decade, terrorist organizations have perpetrated mass murders, rapes, and kidnappings against Nigerians of various religious backgrounds, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports this has resulted in over 3 million internally displaced persons in northeastern Nigeria, and 343,000 registered refugee Nigerians in the Lake Chad region. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has noted that the Nigerian government has often failed to sufficiently respond to these acts of violence.

Given these recent, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom, the United States Secretary of State is respectfully urged to designate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” and appoint a Special Envoy for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region.