US envoy to UN seeks 'accountability' for alleged religious violence in Nigeria
'This year alone, the NGO, Nonprofit Open Doors, reports a very sharp rise in attacks,' Mike Waltz says
HAMILTON, Canada
The US envoy to the UN on Tuesday reiterated Washington’s allegations about recent developments in Nigeria, calling for “accountability” over claims of religious violence.
“Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation and a vibrant mosaic of cultures and faiths,” Mike Waltz said at an event that was streamed online, alleging that the West African country was “under siege.”
Claiming that the terrorist group Boko Haram carries out “targeted violence” against Nigeria’s Christian communities, Waltz added: “This year alone, the NGO, Nonprofit Open Doors, reports a very sharp rise in attacks.”
He further alleged that “80% of the violence against Christians worldwide is occurring in Nigeria,” and again called for “accountability.”
“We need voices that pierce the silence … and demand accountability,” he said.
Nigeria has rejected claims of large-scale religious violence against Christians within its borders, saying there could not be “religious persecution that can be supported in any way, shape, or form by the government of Nigeria.”
“At any level — be it federal, be it regional, be it local — it’s impossible,” Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar said in early November.
The head of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, also dismissed the US allegations of “killings of Christians in Nigeria.”
“Let me say this first: There is no genocide in northern Nigeria,” Youssouf said, adding that “what’s going on in the northern part of Nigeria has nothing to do with the kind of atrocities we see in Sudan or in some part of eastern DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo).”
Urging critics to “think twice” before making such accusations due to the “complexity” of the situation, Youssouf said: “The complexity in the northern part of Nigeria should not be taken that easily.”
In Nigeria, security is threatened by a mix of terrorist groups, including Boko Haram and ISWAP, as well as armed gangs, ethnic militias like the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and herder-farmer conflicts often rooted in economic and social tensions.
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