On Thursday, June 24, 2022, Nigerian Americans in Washington, DC, joined the co-chairs of the US Congress Nigeria Caucus in a press conference calling attention to ongoing atrocities in Nigeria.

Below are prepared remarks of the Nigerian activists under the aegis of Africa United for Peace and US Nigeria Law Group:

PENTECOST DAY MASSACRES: IS US STATE DEPT HELL-BENT ON FOSTERING RELIGIOUS GENOCIDE IN NIGERIA?

We write with regard to the unfortunate US report on religious freedom in Nigeria issued just days before the horrendous Pentecost Day massacre of St Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Ondo State, southwestern Nigeria on June 5, 2022.

For decades the US State Department has battled the “narrative” and not the persecution and this time around has deployed neocolonial entities to retell the story of what is happening in Nigeria instead of harkening to authentic Nigerian voices in the specialized religious freedom space.

Just like the epic failure of the procured 20 American academics who wrote to urge the US not to designate Boko Haram a Foreign Terrorist Organization for spurious and specious reasons, then and now all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t possibly put the glaring truth in denial again. Incidentally not a single Nigerian American was included amongst the 20 American anti-FTO academics who took the wrong side of history and terror, despite the significant number of Nigerian Americans in academia.

CONTINUING CLERGY ABDUCTIONS

Current facts also speak for themselves in contradiction of the DOS report. It is disheartening that, while we’re glad that two of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls have been found eight years after, fresh abductions are still occurring.

Last week alone, an Anglican Bishop was abducted in Kwara state, a catholic priest in Plateau state, an ECWA pastor in Kaduna state and members of the Celestial church in central and southern Nigeria were abducted in in the latest iteration of a month-long spree of weekly clergy abductions. That same week, a missionary pastor Ibrahim Tanda with Go international was murdered in Kebbi state.

The combined effect of Boko Haram’s and the Fulani militia terrorism has maintained Nigeria as the most dangerous place for Christians in the world.

BLOODY CHURCH MASSACRES

On the same Pentecost day June 5th that over 40 worshippers in St Francis Catholic Church in Ondo state were massacred,

Fulani bandits aided by a Nigerian Airforce helicopter killed 32 and destroyed an ECWA church in Kajuru, Kaduna state, victims report.

The following Sunday June 12, they also killed scores just before morning mass in Edumoga in Benue state, north central Nigeria - a different conflict theater from the terror-plagued northeast. In one week alone, over 120 innocent civilians were slaughtered in NW, NC & SW Nigeria. This is genocide!

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/06/attack-on-churches-35-pastors-abducted-killed-in-17-months/

Incidentally these atrocities occurred while the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom was visiting Nigeria but yet the US State Dept won’t listen to a U.S. government agency much less the blood of the martyrs.

GOVERNMENT PERSECUTION

Not to be outdone, the very day after churches were attacked by Fulani militia in Kaduna and Ondo, the government of Kaduna state also demolished a chapel construction site on the campus of Kaduna State University - the government again perpetrating similar terroristic acts on a place of worship.

Sadly in the same pattern of impunity, witnesses say their phones were confiscated by the government so they couldn’t record the church site destruction by the state government, just as occurred when Borno state demolished a church and killed a pastor’s son last year.

The Kaduna State government must be urged to promptly address this atrocity and the refusal to allow the rebuilding of Catholic and Protestant chapels at the ABU federal university destroyed 11 years ago by Muslim rioters in pro-Buhari post-election violence.

AMERICAN AND WESTERN VICTIMS OF FULANI MILITIA

Besides the overwhelming facts of anti-Christian animus both by state and non-state actors at all all levels, the state department’s sources come with baggage of their own.

Mercy Corp itself lost one of its staff in Nigeria, British national Faye Mooney, to the Islamist Fulani kidnappers in an Easter attack in 2020 - the self-same ethnoreligious syndicate that abducted Canadian and American businessmen in Kaduna before. Their international affiliates similarly abducted American missionary Walton from the country of Niger and hid him in Nigeria despite closed borders until his rescue by U.S. Seals in 2020. What did these British and American Christian aid workers have to do with farmer and herder conflict or global warming?

It is hard to argue lack of religious animus when the Fulani militia attack, slash and burn villages in the midnight massacres chanting Allahu Akbar (God is great) in Arabic. It is unclear if the organizations mean that they asked the killers if they had religious motives and they said “no” or if they asked the dead victims if their murders were religiously motivated and they posthumously replied in the negative.

POLITICAL MARGINALIZATION

Sadly, it is not only in church destructions that Nigerian Christians feel the crush of persecution.

Contrary to the terms of an equitable convention that allows the rotation of presidential power between the Christian/Muslim North/South, both main political parties have nominated candidates in the 2023 elections which means another eight years of a Muslim president in addition to Buhari’s eight years. It gets worse.

Pressure is currently even on in the ruling party to have a Muslim President and Vice President rather than a Muslim and Christian which breaks faith with years of fairness and balancing. This would be unspeakably insensitive and wholly abnegatory of tens of millions of Christians who make up half the country’s population.

Nigeria’s Christians are aggressively being asphyxiated politically and literally. The United States must not stand by and watch this genocide and normalize it with faux academic and pseudo intellectual narratives.

THE US AND NIGERIAN AIRFORCE

It is deeply concerning that the Kajuru Air Force helicopter attack of June 5th occurred days after a U.S. Air Force safety program in Nigeria

On June 2, 2022, the US embassy reported that a flight safety team from U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAF) traveled to Abuja to conduct a five-day military exchange program to enhance the Nigerian Air Force’s operational safety.

“The United States is dedicated to supporting the Nigerian Air Force in its efforts to improve its operational safety. This priority was reiterated by U.S. Mission Nigeria at this year’s “Country Coordination Meeting” between the U.S. and Nigerian militaries. Ambassador Leonard commended the Nigerian Air Force on their continued efforts saying, “Safety is a universal concern for all aviators, regardless of nationality or crew position, and the U.S. is proud to collaborate with the Nigerian Air Force to help promote a culture of safety.” “

Based on the above, we urge the United States government to require from the Nigerian government the after action report and the video footage of the helicopter operation in Kaduna for review by the international community to determine the truth as to the aerial atrocities inflicted on citizens.

Most troubling of all is the following report AFTER the June 5th aerial atrocity.

According to US media, Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) Kathleen FitzGibbon hosted Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) at the US Ambassador’s Residence on 15 June to inaugurate SNC’s new office.

SNC is contracted to provide continuing technical and maintenance support for 12 SNC-modified A-29 Super Tucano light attack combat aircraft, delivered to the NAF in July and September 2021.

The Super Tucanos were acquired under a $497 million Foreign Military Sale (FMS)…

The Super Tucanos have been used in combat and have proven effective in assisting the Nigerian Air Force in its fight against violent extremist organizations including the Islamic State West Africa Province/Boko Haram.

FitzGibbon congratulated SNC for the dedication it showed to Nigeria. “For decades, our countries have maintained a strong and mutually beneficial security partnership. The A-29 programme is symbolic of this partnership to strengthen civilian protection.” She also applauded the A-29 programme, describing the effort as a “total package approach” to military sales. She recognized the development of a new Nigerian military doctrine, and specifically highlighted the efforts of SNC and the US Mission to Nigeria to train NAF on laws of armed conflict and human rights as they employ the advanced weapons systems such as the Super Tucanos.

SNC Senior Vice President Ed Topps was on hand to represent the company, stating, “SNC is proud to help improve the security of the Nigerian people through the A-29 Super Tucano programme. The airplane is performing above expectations, thanks to the professionalism of NAF pilots and maintainers. We hope Nigeria can increase operational effectiveness by adding another squadron of A-29 aircraft as quickly as possible.” “

We are exceedingly concerned that that there has been no notice taken of the Air Force atrocity of June 5th, no calls for review and accountability but rather calls for an additional squadron of the over-priced one dozen TUCANO aircraft amidst Nigeria’s abysmal air safety record. In addition to the intentional shooting of civilians, there have been accidental killings of IDPs and villagers plus unexplained crashes in over a dozen fatal incidents in the last four years.

Accordingly we urge the US not to provide “another squadron” till a full review and accounting for ALL the civilian fatality and crashed plane incidents is completed and necessary course correction measures and accountability rendered.

As we mark Juneteenth this week, we urge the US to help us truly secure religious freedom, peace, security, equity and democracy in Nigeria.

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