Throughout the past month, the international human rights and religious freedom community has been buzzing about the state of affairs in Nigeria. On December 7, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Nigeria would – for the first time ever – be classified as a Country of Particular Concern with regards to violations of religious freedom. Just four days later, on December 11, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Mrs. Fatou Bensouda, announced that she has authorized her Office to proceed in initiating a comprehensive investigation into crimes against humanity and war crimes in Nigeria.
However, as fundamental progress is made, it is important that we continue draw international attention to the negative developments as well. For instance, also on December 11, some 500 Nigerian schoolboys were abducted from Katsina State’s Government Science Secondary School. Days later, jihadist militant group Boko Haram took credit for the mass kidnapping. On December 1, suspected Fulani militants killed
three Nigerian Christians during an attack on Plateau State’s Gura-Pwana village. And just yesterday, December 16, a Nigerian lawyer, his wife, and a blind civilian were killed in a Fulani militant attack in Makurdi, Benue State. Even as progress is made on the international stage, we cannot ignore the human rights atrocities that continue unabated in Nigeria.
Today, Jubilee Campaign Executive Director Ann Buwalda spoke at the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission’s hearing, Conflict and Killings in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, chaired by Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ). Ms. Buwalda highlighted the escalating violence against predominantly Christian farming communities by at the hands of radial Fulani militants:
“Fulani militants pose a mortal threat to the predominantly Christian farming tribes in the Middle Belt and surrounding states, but the Nigerian government is failing both to protect the victims of Fulani militant violence and to bring the perpetrators to justice according to its duty. As a member of the Genocide Convention, it is time for the United States to place pressure on Nigeria to end its impunity and offer secueity to the victims in Nigeria vulnerable to Fulani militant attacks and violence.”
Ann Buwalda, Executive Director, Jubilee Campaign
List of Speakers
- Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ)
- Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA)
- Congresswoman Jackson Lee (D-TX)
- Sam Brownback, Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom
- Morse Tan, Ambassador at Large for Global Criminal Justice
- Robert Destro, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
- Nina Shea, Director, Hudson Institute Center for Religious Freedom
- Ann Buwalda, Executive Director, Jubilee Campaign
- H.E. William Avenya, Bishop of Gboko, Nigeria
- R.H. Baroness Cox, Member of UK Parliament, Co-Chair of All-Party Parliamentary Group for Freedom of Religion and Thought
- Udo Jude Ilo, Nigeria Country Officer, Open Society Initiative for West Africa
- Mike Jobbins, Vice President, Global Affairs and Partnerships, Search for Common Ground
Other notable speakers and witnesses include Congresswoman Jackson Lee (D-TX-18), Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Mr. Robert Destro, Hudson Institute’s Nina Shea, Baroness Cox, Bishop H.E. William Avenya of Gboko, Nigeria, and more:
“To the President of Nigeria… a land that has such bounty… it is high time for the Nigerian government to take these conflicts seriously. I don’t know how much longer the world can look to Nigeria for the future…. All they see is internal bloodshed and a government that turns its back and its head.”
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee
“Nigeria is important in its own right. Precisely because we value Nigerians as partners and as people and as fellow human beings…. This hearing offers us an opportunity. That this is about civilian security. We have to start with civilian security because if there is no civilian security, there is no protection of human rights.”
Robert Destro, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
“Christians and Muslims who reject extremist views, as well as humanitarian aid workers, are victims of Nigeria’s radical terrorists…. Religion is not the sole driver, but a narrative that reduces the conflict to socio-economic factors such as climate change is an over-simplification. The scale and gravity of the religious context requires immediate attention.”
Nina Shea, Director, Hudson Institute Center for Religious Freedom
“It is depressing that our Middle Belt region has become a well of tears; an area where mass graves are common; where hundreds are killed in a single attack and no one says anything about it…. The mass slaughter of Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt by every standard meets the criteria of genocide within the Genocide Convention.”
Bishop H.E. William Avenya of Gboko, Nigeria
“It is something more insidious. It is about a country that has lost its soul. A country numbed by violence inflamed by uncontained criminality and religious extremism…. I must also add that there is a need to amplify the voice of moderates across the divide in the conflict. We must amplify moderate voices for peacebuilding; violence cannot be solved by more violence.”
Udo Jude Ilo, Nigeria Country Officer, Open Society Initiative for West Africa
“We can’t put this down to climate change. These are atrocities with the intent to perpetrate terror…. Thousands of civilians have been killed in attacks led by Islamist Fulani militias…. To date, UK government’s response has been woefully inaccurate…. They refuse to acknowledge that a possible genocide could be occurring.”
R. H. Baroness Caroline Cox
