Washington, DC…This week, the United States designated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern for severe violations of religious freedom. As President Donald J. Trump said to President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria when they met in 2018, the United States is deeply concerned by religion-based violence in Nigeria, particularly the killing and persecution of Christians.

Tragically, since that meeting, millions of Nigerians have continued to live in fear for their lives, and several thousand have been brutally murdered because of their faith. Since taking office, President Trump has made it clear that his Administration will fight to defend and to advance the inalienable right to worship freely and to live in accordance with one’s faith, whether here in the United States or beyond America’s borders.

Governments whose leaders have allowed perpetrators of vicious religious persecution to act with impunity pose a national security threat to the United States and the world.

This week’s designation rightfully calls out the Nigerian government’s inexcusable lack of action to end faith-based violence.