The United States of America has accused the Nigerian Government of tolerating religious bigotry and violations to religious freedoms in the country.
It said it has blacklisted the country.
Speaking during a teleconference on Tuesday, the US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, Samuel Brownback, said Nigeria was designated a “country of particular concern” after years of placing her under a watch list for allegedly enabling violations of religious rights.
The FG had rejected the blacklisting, stating that it would engage the US authorities and ensure that Nigeria was removed from the list.
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But Brownback said, “We’re seeing a lot of religious-tinged violence taking place in that country and indeed in West Africa. It’s an area of growing concern about what’s happening, in particular, the tension that’s taking place there between religious groups. And it’s often the religious affiliation is used to try to recruit and inspire violent acts.”
Brownwick said the government’s response was inadequate in curtailing the violence and intolerance.
“You’ve got expanded terrorist activities, you’ve got a lot of it associated around religious affiliations, and the government’s response has been minimal to not happening at all,” he said.
