On Monday, a coalition of 33 organizations and 35 individuals sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken asking the Biden administration to designate Nigeria as a country of particular concern, a designation signifying governments that have “engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”
The letter calls for a special envoy to “investigate the situation and make recommendations in consultation with local representatives.”
The letter comes as some human rights advocates have warned for years that predominantly Christian farming communities in the country’s Middle Belt are often attacked by predominantly Muslim ethnic herders.
Additionally, the presence of Islamic extremist groups like Boko Haram and the Islamic State in northern Nigeria have pushed millions of people from their homes.
The Nigerian government has denied that religious persecution is taking place, calling the violence responsible for thousands of deaths in recent years part of decades-old farmer-herder clashes.
The letter was organized by ADF International, a division of the religious liberty advocacy organization Alliance Defending Freedom. Other organizations that backed the letter include the Family Research Council, International Christian Concern, the American Humanist Association, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the Hudson Institute, the Anglican Persecuted Church Network, In Defense of Christians, the Religious Freedom Institute and Jubilee Campaign USA.