Nigeria placed on State Department list of religious freedom violators

The State Department on Monday announced that it had placed Nigeria on a designated list of “countries of particular concern” (CPC) citing violations of religious freedoms.

The country was one of 10 to be placed on the list, including Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.

Nigeria’s designation marks the first time a democracy was placed on such a list, as the State Department said the country had engaged or tolerated “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom.”

“The United States will continue to work tirelessly to end religiously motivated abuses and persecution around the world, and to help ensure that each person, everywhere, at all times, has the right to live according to the dictates of conscience,” Mr. Pompeo said in a statement.

Nigeria’s designation opens the door to economic sanctions on Nigeria, but the department stopped short of specifying any looming penalties.

The move was praised by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which said it “particularly [welcomes] Nigeria’s designation for the first time as a CPC for tolerating egregious violations of religious freedom.”

USCIRF chairwoman Gayle Manchin said the move “demonstrates that we must be vigilant that all forms of governments respect religious freedom.”