U.S. Human Rights Commission Calls Nigerian Violence ‘Genocide'

A Catholic bishop in Adamawa, one of Nigeria’s Middle Belt states. Creative Commons photo.

Last week, the U.S. State Department listed Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for what it called its severe violations of religious freedom and government tolerance of such actions. Fatou Bensouda, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, said that “a well-founded basis exists for investigating Nigeria for crimes against humanity and war crimes.”

The designation comes after Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of over 300 schoolboys, who on Dec. 17 were given back to security agents and safety. Boko Haram and Fulani militants, both Islamist groups, are a threat to Nigerian civilians, particularly in a region called the Middle Belt. 

The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, a bipartisan caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives, held a panel on Dec. 17 to discuss these human rights violations and how the U.S. can help moving forward.

Over the past several years, Nigerian citizens have been subject to kidnappings, mass execution, sexual assault and other forms of violence. More than 600 people have died in 2020 alone in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, according to statistics presented by Robert Destro, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. That number increases to 5,695 if Nigeria’s North Central, Northeast and Northwest regions are included.

Rep. Christopher R. Smith, Co-Chair of TLHRC, mentioned the Commission’s past focus on Nigeria and the importance of this issue going forward.

“The United States and international community I believe must do more to mitigate the violence because, above all, the dire situation on the ground warrants it,” Smith said. “The killings, the kidnappings and sexual abuse is absolutely unconscionable.”

Many panelists mentioned that the violence carried out fits the standards required to label it a genocide of Nigerian people. 

“Especially when it comes to situations with a risk of atrocities like mass killings, prevention must be a priority,” said James P. McGovern, Co-Chair of TLHRC.

Panelists say that the violence is motivated by political, economical, geographic and religious factors. Fulani herdsmen, who are Muslim, have attacked Christian farmers and churches as desertification reduces the availability of arable land.

“Unfortunately, violence often plays out along faith lines even if conflicts were not originally religious,“ said Sam Brownback, Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, “both because of the composition of farmer and herder groups and because of the history of ethno-religious tension exacerbated by a lack of accountability.”

Brownback cited the burning of churches in Nigeria from earlier this year and similar targeting of religious organizations that has carried on for years: in June 2013, when the U.S. government added Boko Haram to its list of terrorist organizations, the group targeted churches for three weeks in a row and killed over 50 worshippers.

“Since the consistent attacks began some five years ago, there has hardly been a single day gone without killing in one part of the region or the other,” said Rev. William A. Avenya, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gboko, Nigeria in a statement. “Interestingly, no one has ever been arrested or questioned or prosecuted or convicted of any charge relating to this spree of killings.”

Others emphasized the lack of response from Nigerian government, who credits many of these attacks to “bandits” or blames them entirely on political or economical reasons — rather than religious ones.

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a member of TLHRC, noted that the main targets in Boko Haram’s terrorist activity are Christians and Shia Muslims, many of whom are farmers. However, everyone from schoolboys to pastors to mothers have been affected.

Baroness Cox, Life Peer in the U.K.’s House of Lords, shared the story of a woman she met in Nigeria named Veronica who was targeted by Fulani militants: “They said they wanted my daughter to suck my finger. So they amputated my forefinger and I passed out. When I woke up, I saw my six year-old daughter on the ground, dead, with my chopped finger in her mouth.”

All panelists were in agreement that this violence is religiously motivated and a serious threat to Nigeria that the U.S. and U.K. should get involved in.

Destro said some of the greatest problems facing the Nigerian people come from a lack of resources. There’s no local police or help from the army. Humanitarian aid organizations are pulling out of the region because it’s too dangerous. When civilians call the Nigerian equivalent of 911, no one picks up the phone.

“We have to start with civilian security,” Destro said. “Without civilian security, there is no protection of human rights.”

He proposed a solution in which the U.S. government would partner with churches, civilians and other local organizations to form a “warning network” that would inform Nigerians and allow them to avoid and prevent more of these attacks.

Destro said this would require the growth of U.S. intelligence in Nigeria to “develop a ground-level understanding of what Nigerians need to help themselves.”

In agreement, other panelists called for funding from the Trump administration and Congress to complete this work, as well as to complete more research that would allow better and more complete reports of death counts that have previously gone unnoticed.

Brownback emphasized the importance of not conceding to Boko Haram and other militant groups.

“Religion, at its heart, is peaceful,” he said.

He hopes to work with Nigeria and interfaith organizations of Abrahamic religions in order to spread this idea of peace throughout the country and quell religiously-motivated terrorist groups.

None of these solutions would be possible without the cooperation of the Nigerian government, however.

“We will be engaging on all levels with President Buhari’s government, but they’ve got to want to change,” Destro said.

Jillian Cheney is a Poynter-Koch fellow for Religion Unplugged who loves consuming good culture and writing about it. She also reports on American Protestantism and evangelical Christianity. You can find her on Twitter @_jilliancheney.