{"id":82030,"date":"2021-06-10T19:36:45","date_gmt":"2021-06-10T18:36:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=82030"},"modified":"2021-06-10T19:36:45","modified_gmt":"2021-06-10T18:36:45","slug":"pompeo-slams-buhari-govt-says-1500-christians-killed-in-six-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/other-news\/pompeo-slams-buhari-govt-says-1500-christians-killed-in-six-months\/","title":{"rendered":"Pompeo slams Buhari govt, says 1,500 Christians killed in six months"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"auto\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The immediate past United States Secretary of State and former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Mike Pompeo, says at least 1,500 Christians have been killed in Nigeria in the last six months, adding that the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari is not doing enough to protect religious freedom.<\/p>\n<p>Pompeo, who served as Secretary of State under ex-President Donald Trump, stated this in an article titled, \u2018The Persecution of Christians in Nigeria Demands Our Attention\u2019 which was published by the American Centre for Law and Justice on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>He said the Buhari regime had suppressed the news of the killings of Christians by masking it as farmer-herder crisis.<\/p>\n<p>The ex-US official said, \u201cAt least 1,500 Christians have already been killed in Nigeria during 2021, and even more have been kidnapped and are either being held hostage or trafficked. The attacks are brutal. Armed radical Islamic groups arrive in a village during the night, kill the men, rape and murder the women, and kidnap the children.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Nigerian government thus far has sought to downplay the attacks, characterising them as conflicts between herders and farmers rather than as religiously motivated acts of terror. These terrorists must be held accountable for such preposterous characterisations. And given that Nigeria has the largest Christian population of any African country \u2013 over 80 million, nearly half of its people \u2013 it is essential that this persecution is snuffed out before it becomes even worse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The former American official said every single day in Nigeria, Christians aren\u2019t just having their right to religious freedom denied \u2013 they are being murdered because of their faith in Jesus.<\/p>\n<p>Pompeo argued that no society that denies its people the right to worship according to their beliefs, or that allows that right to come under attack without consequence, can claim to be truly good.<\/p>\n<p>He said in 2018, 110 schoolgirls were kidnapped by Boko Haram in Dapchi, Yobe State but when a deal was cut to return most of the girls home, one was held back \u2013 Leah Sharibu because she refused to convert to Islam.<\/p>\n<p>The former secretary of state wondered how Sharibu could remain in captivity for three years without consequence.<\/p><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Pompeo, therefore, stressed the need for a foreign policy that takes seriously the issue of ensuring religious freedom around the world is critical to serving America\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n<p>He noted that Open Doors\u2019 Country Report states that today, more Christians are murdered for their faith in Nigeria than in any other country in the world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe number of Christians murdered there increased by 60 per cent in 2020. The presence of radical, jihadist Islamic groups in northern Nigeria, such as Boko Haram and the Fulani herdsmen, ensures that this ongoing persecution is likely to get worse. I have personally met with Christian Nigerian leaders and heard their tragic stories of those who have been persecuted because of their faith,\u201d Pompeo said.<\/p>\n<p>He recalled that during the Trump administration, he took the important first steps toward dealing with this serious issue in December 2020, when Nigeria was added to the State Department\u2019s \u2018Countries of Particular Concern\u2019 list.<\/p>\n<p>Pompeo said the US recognised that Buhari\u2019s government was tolerating the attacks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe did this because we recognised reality \u2013 the Nigerian government was tolerating the systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of the religious freedom of its people, allowing them to suffer at the hands of radical Islamic terror.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis designation signalled to the Nigerian government that swift action on their part was needed to put an end to this persecution, or there would be further consequences in the form of sanctions and increased diplomatic pressure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Pompeo revealed that the ACLJ had just filed its 18th written submission and made critical oral interventions at the United Nations Human Rights Council regarding the plight of Christians in Nigeria.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m eager to engage in this work with them as we seek to put a stop to these ongoing tragedies,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<div class=\"yj6qo\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"adL\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The immediate past United States Secretary of State and former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Mike Pompeo, says at least 1,500 Christians have been killed in Nigeria in the&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":82031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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