Subcommittee on International Human Rights

Opening remarks

Thank you, Chair and honourable members of the subcommittee, for inviting me to speak today. My name is Mohammed Usman, president of the Association of Nigerians in Nanaimo. Our association includes Nigerians from diverse faiths and ethnic backgrounds. Many of our members have been directly affected, through family or personal experiences, by the ongoing violence in Nigeria. I appreciate the committee's commitment to examining the persecution of Christians in Nigeria. The issue has gone on for far too long and has devastated countless families and communities. The focus of today's briefing is the ongoing persecution of Christians who have been targeted for their faith, killed in the tens of thousands, displaced from their homes and subjected to the destruction of their churches and places of worship. These experiences are real, well documented and deeply painful, both for survivors and for diaspora families who have loved ones back home. While Christians face severe and targeted attacks, it is important to recognize that they are not the only victims of Nigeria's insecurity. Across the country, ethnic minority groups in the middle belt, such as the Tiv, the Berom, the…

Opening remarks

Thank you very much. Good afternoon, everyone. I am honoured to share my views with you on this important briefing. The CSIS does not take policy positions, so the views represented in this testimony are my own, not those of my employer. In Nigeria today, ethnicity, religion and language—not nationality—remain the benchmarks of identity for Nigeria's highly diverse population. While Nigeria has witnessed repeated ethnic and religious clashes over the years, its ethnically and religiously diverse population is not the problem or the cause of these conflicts. According to a 2021 Afrobarometer survey, nine in 10 Nigerians expressed willingness to live with people from different ethnicities and religions. This survey also noted lower levels of trust among citizens, with 92% stating they must be careful when dealing with others, indicating that while there is a sense of unity among Nigerians, trust issues persist, affecting social interactions. It is important to understand the nature of violence in Nigeria and its causes, which extend beyond the religious or ethnic overtones that appear to motivate that animosity. A narrow narrative that seeks to reduce Nigeria's security…

Opening remarks

Thank you, Mr. Chair, I'm grateful for the opportunity. In view of all the testimony that's already been given, I'll shorten my comments to what has not been covered by my previous colleagues. Nigeria is very clearly a country in social crisis. The Nigerian human rights organization, the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, has estimated that between 2009 and 2023 at least 52,000 Christians have been killed, 18,500 have been abducted and are likely dead, and more than 20,000 churches and Christian schools have been attacked. Since 2023, this persecution has continued unabated. Between January and August of this year, a further estimated 7,000 Christians have been massacred. Militias have burned homes and crops, pushed out people from their territory to seize land and forcibly imposed Islam in some of these regions. However, this is not simply about land disputes and scarce resources. Sometimes when we sit in committees and subcommittees like this, we hear big numbers of people who are suffering grave human rights atrocities. I want to remind all of us here that each one of these persons was a unique, irreplaceable human being, members of families,…

Opening remarks

The challenge of sharia law is that it has been included in the penal code, which means that the principles of sharia are applied to all citizens equally in northern Nigeria. Obviously, there is the risk to both Muslims and Christians because both suffer under the harsh implementation, especially when it comes to questions of apostasy, questions of expression of faith and, let's say, the clear violation of religious freedom, which is absolutely not present in northern Nigeria.