• Urges US Congress to engage Nigerian counterparts on Blasphemy death penalty, Hisbah abductions/conversions and probe of threats against Christians

A global coalition of clerics, scholars, and human-rights advocates has submitted a brief to the U.S. House Africa Subcommittee following Nigeria’s designation by the Donald Trump administration as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for “past egregious violations of religious freedom.”

In a 78-page memorandum inclusive of collated reports and annexures endorsed by prominent voices, including US-based international human rights advocate, Emmanuel Ogebe Esq, of the Justice for Jos Project, former lawmaker, Hon. Rimamnde Shawulu, former Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Sam Amadi, Rev. Dr. Gideon Para-Mallam, and Rev. Dr. Polycarp Gbaja – any claim that Christians are not persecuted in Nigeria is “attempting to deny what is already undeniable.”

The coalition, Global Coalition for Freedom of Religion in Nigeria (GCFRN), expressed that the U.S. Congress, the UK Parliament and Canada’s Parliament have all consistently raised alarm over the deteriorating situation of religious minorities in Nigeria, adding that the latest 2025 USCIRF report whose recommendations triggered President Trump’s CPC designation cited the existence of state blasphemy laws invoking capital punishment, Sharia legal frameworks being applied to non-Muslims, the closure of Christian schools during Ramadan, systemic pattern of discrimination across northern states, and kidnappings, abductions and targeted killings of Christian clergy.

The memo noted that the CPC recommendation is not new, pointing out that “it returns repeatedly because Nigeria has failed repeatedly to address the underlying violations.”

It further emphasized that the current crisis is rooted in historical decisions taken by British authorities under indirect rule arguing that evidence abounds that vast Christian and animist communities were “delivered into the hands of the Caliphate,” thereby creating decades of tension that still define northern Nigeria.

The coalition which also includes the President of Christian Solidarity Worldwide Nigeria CSW, Rev Yunusa Nmadu Jnr., and ECWA’s first Nigerian-American ex-President, Jacob Gado, lamented several northern states of “operating as exclusive Muslim entities,” systematically restricting Christian access to education, land, civil service appointments and public facilities.

They listed disturbing examples that Christians are being denied land for churches in Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, Borno, Jigawa and Yobe, while mosques freely proliferate and demolished churches have remained unrepaired since the 2011 post-election violence and Boko Haram attacks, even as students are being forced to worship under trees in institutions such as Sokoto Polytechnic, Tsafe Health School and Kano University of Science and Technology (KUST), Wudil.

Furthermore, the groups alleged that government is fully aware that Christian girls are being abducted and forcibly converted by Boko Haram, neighbours or Sharia Commissions — with Leah Sharibu and many unnamed victims still in captivity while a high number of communities are being attacked for their faith, with churches destroyed while mosques are spared.

The coalition cited video evidence, security reports, UN submissions, and documented testimonies linking many attacks to extremist groups motivated by religious ideology.

Asserting further that federal authorities have for years failed to prosecute those responsible for religiously-motivated killings, it recalled the lynching of Deborah Emmanuel in Sokoto, the murder of Eunice Olawale in Abuja, and the destruction of 764 churches in 12 northern states after Buhari’s 2011 election loss – with almost no convictions.

The writers argued this “climate of impunity” is compounded by structural bias within the current Muslim-Muslim presidency and security establishment, describing the closure of the Aso Rock Chapel as “symbolic of shrinking religious space” and claim that some Chibok girls released by Boko Haram remain in government custody, “cohabiting with their captors.”

In a sweeping indictment of official discrimination, the memo points to the ₦12.4 billion allocated to mosques and Islamic schools in the 2022 budget, compared with ₦24 million for Christian schools - a mere 0.2%.

Among others, GCFRN urged interparliamentary engagement encouraging NASS “to end structural imbalance” and urgent legislative steps, including a National Assembly investigation into constitutional violations across northern states, a federal law outlawing blasphemy statutes in all states, equal land rights for churches and chapels in all federal institutions, the protection for Christian pupils from forced Islamic studies or Ramadan-era school closures as well as the abolition of Hisbah and Sharia Commissions’ enforcement powers, citing patterns of abuse.

The coalition also sought congressional input to the FGN for the recovery of over 200 illegally occupied Christian communities across Plateau, Kaduna, Benue and elsewhere, NASS’ public hearings on religious freedom, promising full access to the coalition’s “massive, amassed data.”

The memo and over 70 pages of attachments was submitted to U.S. Congressman Chris Smith Chairman, House Subcommittee on Africa pursuant to a public hearing on the CPC. (Contributed by Emmanuel Ogebe, Special Counsel Justice for Jos Project)

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