Religious Victimization in Nigeria: Time to walk the Talk

Religion in its various ramifications is gradually losing its social significance and influence on the social character formation in Nigeria. Every religion promises a pathway of love and peace and righteousness, and yet no religion has been spared from believers who have claimed their faith as a license to kill. Recently and regrettably, more Christians are being killed in Nigeria than anywhere else in the world.
As a multi-religious nation, the impact of religion in Nigeria’s socio-economic development either as a stimulus or a constraint cannot be over emphasized. Islam and Christianity, the two major religions in the country, may be compatible with democracy. The former in particular establishes no less than the latter the principle of universal human equality, but they are hard to reconcile with liberalism and the recognition of universal rights particularly freedom of conscience, speech or religion. Almost on a daily basis helpless Nigerians are victimized because of their belief in Christ Jesus, and it is high time the international community pressure the Nigerian government into putting an end to these killings.
This was echoed by the immediate past United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo in an article titled, ‘The Persecution of Christians in Nigeria Demands our Attention,’ which was published by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) on Wednesday. According to Pompeo, “At least 1,500 Christians have already been killed in Nigeria during 2021, and even more, have been kidnapped and are either being held hostage or trafficked. The attacks are brutal. Armed radical Islamic groups arrive in a village during the night, kill the men, rape and murder the women, and kidnap the children. The Nigerian government thus far has sought to downplay the attacks, characterizing them as conflicts between herders and farmers rather than as religiously motivated acts of terror… If the problem is allowed to persist, it will only spread and become worse throughout Africa and around the world. The killing must end.”
Reports published by both the US State Department and the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) singles out Nigeria as a ‘country of particular concern for tolerating severe violations of religious freedom’. It is on that premise that the Trump administration in December 2020, added Nigeria to the State Department’s “Countries of Particular Concern” (CPC) list.
In another report released by the International Christian Center last month, the number of defenseless Christians killed in Nigeria from January to April 2021 stands at 1470, out of which jihadist Fulani herdsmen accounted for the death of over 800.
Despite these findings, Buhari government kept tolerating the systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of the religious freedom of her citizens, allowing them to suffer at the hands of radical Islamic terror. Instead of proffering solution to this heinous crime against humanity, the federal government in connivance with a section of the media invented phrases; unknown gunmen, bandits, kidnappers, just to downplay these killings. Like the Benue state Governor rightly said, the body language of the President makes him an accomplice in these killings.
Religious Equity Commission (RECOM) one of the numerous recommendations of the 2014 National Conference would have helped in nipping these problems on the bud. For no justifiable reason, the federal government has refused to implement any of the recommendation from the conference. RECOM when established is to “prohibit all forms of religious discrimination, religious victimization, religious harassment, hate speeches, and matters connected therewith.” Other functions of the commission includes but not limited to; promoting inter-religious harmony and understanding due to the chequered history of religious intolerance in Nigeria; check the insidious effects of religious bigotry, profiling, stereotyping, extremism and hate speeches; investigate cases of religious marginalization, victimization, harassment and discrimination, nip them in the bud and sanction the culprits through appropriate legal and constitutional mechanisms; serve as a platform for the promotion of inter-faith unity, understanding and harmony; detect early warning signals that can trigger religious tension and nip them in the bud.
Aside ensuring tolerance among the religious faithful in the country, the commission, in performing their duties will be taking considerable burden off the shoulders of our security agencies. We freely criticize our security personnel when there is breach of security but most of the societal ills we face in Nigeria today could have been avoided if there are policies that reflects our history as a polarized nation. Truly speaking, most nations of the world model security management policies on their history, politics and evolution over time. Ours comes in the form of response or reaction to a threat. We should not wait for Nigerians to be killed, then constitute ‘committees’ to investigate the cause of such tragedy or promise to deal with the perpetrators in the language they understand, when we can conveniently avert its occurrence.
Nigeria needs tolerance, religious understanding, dialogue, practicing the tenets of religious beliefs, that is, ortho-praxis rather than orthodoxy in our religious encounter. There is a need to respect and uphold the secular status of Nigeria Constitution and the provision for fundamental human rights and religious freedom in the spirit of true Federalism and liberalism. All these would be achieved with the institution of RECOM.
It was in the struggle to break the grip of colonialism that we learnt the need for unity. There is even a greater need for understanding now that we seek to eliminate extremism and the many threats it poses to our corporate existence.