Washington Examiner | William Upton | April 19, 2020
Christians continue to be one of the most heavily persecuted religious sects around the world. Despite the dominance of Christianity in the West, at times rising to the level of a state religion, Christians living in China, the continent of Africa, and in the Middle East have faced centuries and, in some instances, millennia of persecution.
The Trump administration has made it a priority to improve the plight of Christians in the Middle East. Under the guidance of President Trump and U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback, progress has been made. Unfortunately, other violent hot spots continue to flare up around the world, where identifying publicly as Christian can mark one for death.
One of the greatest current concerns is in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation. Millions of Christians there live in fear of intimidation, murder, and ethnic cleansing. In November 2019, the U.S. Department of State declared the current government of Muhammadu Buhari to be a “severe violator of religious freedom.” This declaration comes after similar condemnations by the European Parliament and Amnesty International, the latter having documented a shocking number of instances in which Buhari’s government has refused to protect the Christian victims of religious terrorism carried out by Fulani extremists. These detailed accounts are backed up by data from the Council on Foreign Relations.
How can the Trump administration deal with this abhorrent assault on innocent Christians? Soft power is the answer. Leaders such as Buhari will not be swayed by appeals to the rule of law or similar strategies. The United States needs to hit him where it hurts: in the wallet.
The administration should halt, at least temporarily, the repatriation to Nigeria of some $300 million in funds that soon will be in the possession of Attorney General William Barr’s Department of Justice. The $300 million had been stolen from Nigeria’s coffers by its former dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha.
There is significant concern that the $300 million, once sent back to Nigeria, will simply end up back in corrupt hands. This must not happen. Currently, the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Nigeria is overly vague and weak on both issues of religious freedom and anti-corruption measures. Congress and the administration must immediately look to strengthening these protections before any funds are repatriated to Nigeria.
Critical to this would be a congressionally supported Department of Justice investigation into the most egregious government actors in Nigeria. These investigative targets should include, but not be limited to, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Chairman Ibrahim Magu, who has served well beyond his legal term of office, and Attorney-General Abubakar Malami, who has engaged in the detention of human rights activists and a U.S.-based journalist.
These two officials should, in particular, be investigated for any possible violations under the Global Magnitsky Act and the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act. Credible testimony exists to make a case against both men for failing to protect persecuted Christians, violating the rule of law, and interfering with justice. In one notable case, an elderly Christian named Grace Taiga was illegally detained, interrogated, and denied essential medical care by the EFCC in an attempt to coerce her to change witness testimony in an ongoing legal case.
Should these investigations find satisfactory grounds for sanctions against Malami or Magu, or indeed other Nigerian officials, then said sanctions should be implemented by the Trump administration.