CBN News799.000 Abonnenten
Thanks273.178 Aufrufe 07.12.2022
Religious freedom advocates are “outraged” and confounded after the Biden administration again declined to add Nigeria to the U.S. Department of State’s Countries of Particular Concern list, a designation targeting nations restricting or complicit in religious freedom violations. Joel Veldkamp, head of international communications at persecution watchdog Christian Solidarity International (CSI), has been among those urging the State Department to reclassify Nigeria as a nation violating residents’ religious liberty – but to no avail. Veldkamp told CBN’s Faithwire the Biden administration’s decision to ignore international outcry over the matter is stunning, particularly in light of the deadly assaults unfolding against Christians in Nigeria daily. “It’s not an exaggeration,” he said. “Every week, Christians are being killed in this country.” Veldkamp shared how the release of the current Countries of Particular Concern was dropped on Friday afternoon, noting this is how “Washington killed news” by burying it at a time when fewer people are paying attention. Tragically, Veldkamp said he had spent the days before the release speaking with priests in Nigeria who witnessed and experienced the unthinkable. “Earlier in the week. I had talked to two different priests from two different states in Nigeria. Really one is in the middle of the country, and one is in the deep south of the country,” he said. “One priest… had just visited a village where 20 Christians were killed the week before. He met a father who saw four of his children killed in front of his eyes.” This same priest met another mother and father who lost one of their children and saw homes being burned. One of those interview subjects said, “I stood on the ashes of human beings.” Watch Veldkamp explain the ordeal.
