“Nigeria Has Not Done Enough To Protect Christians From Attacks . It Should Still Be Recognized As A Country Of Particular Concern” — U.S. Govt Insists
The United States has insisted that Nigeria should retain its Country of Particular Concern (CPC) designation, saying the country has not made sufficient progress in addressing attacks on Christian communities.
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Frank Garcia, stated this during a congressional hearing on violence in Nigeria on Thursday, while responding to US Congressman Riley Moore.
Moore questioned the government’s efforts to dismantle militia strongholds and kidnapping camps in the Middle Belt, particularly in Benue and Plateau states. He also raised concerns over their exclusion from the forest guard initiative and delays in deploying 1,000 approved guards to Plateau.
“Before you answer that, we cannot take this CPC designation off of this country. They have not done enough,” Moore said.
Garcia acknowledged the lack of progress but said Nigeria was taking steps to address the concerns, although they had yet to produce results.
He said the country’s security capacity was still being developed and that deployments were not happening fast enough.
“Unfortunately, the violence has not stopped,” Garcia added, citing continued attacks in Kaduna and Plateau states.
He said the US had provided police training and equipment, expanded intelligence-sharing and worked with Nigerian financial institutions to disrupt terrorist financing.
Garcia added that Washington would continue diplomatic engagements and security cooperation to protect vulnerable communities and ensure accountability.
However, the Federal Government has consistently rejected claims of a “Christian genocide” or targeted religious persecution, maintaining that insecurity affects Nigerians of all faiths.
