Particular persecution concerns

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

Six months ago, the Biden administration removed the African nation from its list of “Countries of Particular Concern”—or CPC for short. It lists countries that severely violate religious freedom.

And despite Nigeria’s removal from that list, religious violence hasn’t let up there.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Last month, a Nigerian Christian college student named Deborah Samuel was stoned to death by Muslim extremist classmates. They then burned her body after accusing her of blasphemy.

Now, the religious liberty watchdog group Open Doors is calling on the Biden administration to put Nigeria back on the CPC list.

Joining us now to talk about it is David Curry. He is the president and CEO of Open Doors. Curry frequently briefs lawmakers on religious liberty concerns around the world and has testified before Congress on the topic.

REICHARD: David, good morning!

DAVID CURRY, GUEST: Good morning. Thank you for having me on.

REICHARD: Well, we talked to you not too long ago when Open Doors released its 2022 World Watch List. That list ranks the 50 most dangerous places in the world to be a Christian. And Nigeria was pretty high up on that list. Where did you rank it and why?

CURRY: Nigeria is seventh on our list. Just to get into the top ten of the World Watch List means that there's some very serious persecution and violence against Christians for practicing their faith. In Nigeria's case, we're really talking about half the country—the northern part of the country, which is under Sharia law, the 12 states in the northern part of  Nigeria. And you have three or four, but two major, extremist groups: Boko Haram, which is ISIS affiliate, and the Fulani, which is a tribal group, but also shares an extremist Islamic ideology. The end result is more people are killed that we can count in the northern part of Nigeria than almost anywhere else. And with all of that being said, six months ago, the Biden administration dropped Nigeria off its Countries of Particular Concern list. So we're calling on them to reinstate that designation. It's an important statement about freedom of religious expression, first of all. It lets Nigeria know that if they're going to be a partner in the international community, they cannot tolerate this kind of extremist attacks on Christians.

REICHARD: Did the Biden administration offer any explanation for removing Nigeria from the CPC list in the first place?

CURRY: Well, the suggestion seems to be that it's not the government of Nigeria, it's these extremist groups that are persecuting Christians. So therefore, they should be taken off the list. But of course, that's not what the law says. They’re willfully—in my view, willfully—overlooking the fact that it's countries who persecute, but also countries that tolerate persecution. And this has been going on in Nigeria since 2012 or so, this extreme level of violence. And this government has overlooked it. They're not protecting the civil sites like churches, villages where Christians are in a majority. When they do send the military, they send them with guns, but not with bullets, these kinds of things, which are shows of, you might say, some kind of show of support, but in practical matter, leave the door wide open for these extremist groups. So, Nigeria is culpable in the death of thousands of people who've been attacked, hundreds already so far of young girls who've been kidnapped and forced into marriage by these extremist groups in the north of Nigeria. I mean, we're talking about some very serious human rights implications, specifically directed against Christians.

REICHARD: Let me ask you this, David, what difference does it make for a nation to be placed on the list of Countries of Particular Concern?

CURRY: Well, these laws carry implications—economic implications, partnership implications. And so, obviously, there are some things that it can't do. But when the government identifies a country as one of particular concern around religious liberty, that really puts them on notice and also puts in certain restrictions that the government of Nigeria would be wanting to avoid.

REICHARD: We mentioned the murder of Nigerian student Deborah Samuel. What do you know about that, and any other recent examples that show how dangerous things are for Christians in Nigeria right now?

CURRY: Well, let's just talk about that one case, because they killed her, brutally beat her and burned her for blasphemy. Now, that's just a term they throw out. But let's talk about what she did. She sent a text message on a group text in her classroom. Everybody was excited that their finals had finished and she said, and I quote, “Jesus is the greatest. He helped me pass my exams.” Just a student excited about having finished her finals and was thanking God for it. And for that, some extremists got hold of it, found out about it, and they killed her for it. So, they hide behind blasphemy laws under Sharia law, but this is just murder because she was a Christian.

REICHARD: David, how can Christians pray for our Christian brothers and sisters in Nigeria? And what else can they do to help?

CURRY: I think we need to pray for their protection. Pray for boldness. Always, when I'm talking to Nigerian believers or other believers, they want us to pray with them. They're standing for the faith, but there's fear involved. They're human. So pray for boldness, provision. I continue to pray for the government of Nigeria, that they'd stand up and speak out on behalf of their minority population there in the north. We desperately need to be praying for them and for other people who are persecuted for their faith. Our calling as Christians is to stand with people as if it were our own family there under pressure, as if it were ourself, and indeed it is. We are a family, according to our Biblical understanding. These are our brothers and sisters. So let's pray for them.

REICHARD: We’ve been talking to David Curry, president of Open Doors USA. David, thanks so much for joining us.

CURRY: Thank you.

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