In its
2020 Annual Report, the US State Department Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended that Nigeria be designated a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for its "ongoing, systematic, and egregious religious freedom violations". The USCIRF has now prepared a "˜
Factsheet" which attempts to explain - among other things - the role religion is playing in the escalating violence involving Fulani communities in west and central Africa, including Nigeria (USCIRF, Factsheet Fulani Communities, September 2020).
Frans Veerman, Managing director of World Watch Research (WWR), regards the CPC-designation by USCIRF as inevitable: "The violence being committed by Boko Haram militants and armed Fulani herdsmen has continued for years. An
article by World Watch Monitor (15 June 2020) states that the Boko Haram insurgency has claimed over 30,000 lives in the last decade and - regarding armed Fulani herdsmen attacks - quotes "˜reliable reports that over 1,000 Christians were killed‚ between January-November 2019,‚ in addition to the estimated 6,000+ deaths since 2015"."
Frans Veerman continues: "However, it needs to be pointed out that the USCIRF is trying to be too careful when the factsheet states that "˜the extent to which religious ideology contributes to driving this violence remains a subject of debate". The evidence collated by WWR over a number of years (
WWR Analysis - Focus Nigeria 2013-2018, Password: freedom) clearly shows that religious motivation is a major factor behind the attacks on Christian communities and that a religious form of ethnic cleansing is indeed in progress."
