The Federal Government condemned on Monday the request by five United States Republican Senators to re-designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) due to alleged persecution of Christians.
According to reports, the senators, who made the call in a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, also accused Nigeria of violating Christians’ freedom to practice their religion.
In response to the allegation, Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, stated that the call was based on a false premise and misunderstanding of what was going on in the country.
The minister is in London for meetings with international media and non-governmental organizations.
“You will recall that only few months ago, Nigeria was taken out of the list of countries of particular concern because it was proven that there is no iota of truth in the allegation that Christians or any religion was being persecuted or people were not allowed to practise religion of their choice.
“We want to say once again that Nigeria does not have a policy that denies people the freedom to practice their religion.
“The country also does not have a policy of violation of freedom of religion and it is not true that Nigeria persecutes anybody on account of his or her faith,” he said.
Mohammed stated that the Nigerian Constitution guarantees the right of anyone to practice his or her faith freely, and that the government has always jealously guarded the constitutional provision.
He claimed that most commentators who were unfamiliar with Nigerian politics and events mistook criminalities and communal clashes for religious persecution.
“Nobody in Nigeria is being persecuted but we have issues of criminality going on and the criminals really do not make distinction of any religion.
“They kidnap for money, they hold people on ransom irrespective of their religion and there are some issues of communal matters dating back to many years.
“If statistic is to be taken, I can say confidently that as many Muslims as Christians have been victims of these criminals,” he said.
According to the minister, the Islamic State’s West Africa Province is the only known group that targets Christians.
He did, however, claim that the Federal Government had launched large-scale military operations to eliminate criminals, which were yielding results.
“What ISWAP is doing is that, because of their dwindling influence, they are now attacking Churches and Christians in order to create crisis between various religious groups.
“But as a government, we are after them,” he said.
The minister claimed that some NGOs were also providing false information to the international community in order to obtain funds from donors.
Mohammed reiterated that Nigeria’s two major religions, Islam and Christianity, were also working together to find a solution to the crisis and bring peace and harmony to the country.
He cited the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council as an example of an organization working to promote unity and better understanding between the Christian and Islamic faiths.
In order to address the challenges of insecurity, the minister sought assistance from multilateral organizations and foreign countries.
