Religious freedom advocates ask Biden to put Nigeria back on watchlist for anti-Christian violence

A broad array of religious freedom advocates has banded together in asking President Biden to put Nigeria back on the State Department's list of countries of particular concern (CPC) on religious freedom, citing the ongoing violence, killing and displacement of Christians at the hands of Boko Haram, Fulani militants and other mostly Muslim aggressors.

A coalition of 12 organizations and 30 advocates, including Christians who faced persecution in the Muslim world, like Andrew Brunson (a former prisoner in Turkey), Mariam Ibraheem (who was sentenced to death for "apostasy" in Sudan) and Joy Bishara (a survivor of the Boko Haram kidnappings), praised former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's decision to place Nigeria on the CPC list in December 2020 and urged Biden to return to that designation.

"The ongoing violence, killing, and displacement against Christians and others have only increased," the advocates, organized by the Family Research Council (FRC), wrote in a letter provided to Fox News. "In fact, during 2021, massacres happen almost nightly, while by day, young boys are killed in the fields. Pregnant women are brutally dismembered, their babies mutilated before their eyes. And now, an entire church congregation has been abducted and held captive."