Stephen Rasche, RFI Senior Fellow for International Religious Freedom in Conflict Regions, was interviewed yesterday on the Drew Mariani Show on Relevant Radio. Rasche shared his insights as to why persecution of Christians continues to escalate in Nigeria.

Rasche explained:

A culture of impunity has developed amongst the Muslim government leaders toward the violence against Christians that they’re supposed to be taking care of…The situation is just getting worse [for Christians] and has been escalating rapidly in the last several months.

Rasche went on to describe the rampant kidnappings in Christian communities, which are often perpetrated for the purposes of sex slavery and other grave human rights abuses. Islamist groups are also abducting Catholic priests and other clergy on a regular basis. All evidence suggests, Rasche continued, that Nigeria’s security forces are complicit in these human rights violations. 

Rasche reminded that the United States late last year removed the designation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) for reasons that remain inexplicable. In 2020, the U.S. Department of State designated Nigeria as a CPC due to religious freedom violations perpetrated or allowed in the country. This was the first such designation since it was first recommended to the State Department in 2009. 

Listen to the full interview on the Drew Mariani Show here (beginning at about 14:45).