02/12/2022 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – When the U.S. Department of State designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) in December 2020, human rights groups worldwide celebrated. The designation followed many years of civil society advocacy and signified that the U.S. was beginning to recognize the tragedy of religious persecution in Nigeria.

It was a surprise when the Department of State took Nigeria off the CPC list in November 2021, just three days before Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Abuja, Nigeria, for diplomatic talks and after a year of extreme violence against Nigerian Christians.

After the announcement, ICC’s advocacy team quickly swung into action to help Congress push back against the Department of State’s decision to delist Nigeria.

ICC, along with its partners at ADF International and Open Doors USA, helped Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) draft a letter to the Department of State calling for an explanation and asking that Nigeria be added back to the CPC list. ICC’s advocacy team also published a report, No Protest Allowed, profiling one of Nigeria’s most prolific government persecutors and hosted a webinar to inform D.C. stakeholders about the issue of government persecution in Nigeria.

At the webinar, the featured speaker was Rev. John Joseph Hayab, a Baptist minister and the leader of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Kaduna State. He met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken just a few days after the delisting and told attendees about that meeting.

“I told him, ‘The U.S. taking Nigeria off the CPC list is like a doctor expelling a sick patient from the hospital before he is well,’” Rev. Hayab said. “‘You are sending him out to die.’”

ICC will continue to push leaders in D.C. to recognize the persecution in Nigeria and take appropriate action in response.

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