Campaign and petition email responses

Please support human rights in Nigeria through the UPR process

Thank you very much for getting in touch with me on such a serious international issue.

The freedom of religion or belief is a fundamental human right. The SNP abhor the persecution of any group on any grounds. The principle of freedom of religion or belief is inalienable and long-established within the international community.

Tragically, there are numerous examples of mass religious persecution and discrimination the world-over. From Nigeria to Myanmar; Kashmir to Northern Ireland; and Ethiopia to Azerbaijan – tensions between different religious communities are, sadly, not uncommon.

The SNP absolutely supports freedom of religion and worship everywhere in the world. This is a fundamental human right, long recognised as such by the international community, and there must be no let-up in international efforts to safeguard this right and to prevent persecution of religious minorities everywhere.

Indeed, the SNP welcomed the UK Government’s commitment in 2022 to take “concrete steps for how the UK Government will support the Nigerian Government in promoting freedom of religion and belief, as well as preventing violence against women and girls, across their engagement activities in Nigeria.” This was in response to the House of Commons’ Foreign Affairs Committee’s inquiry ‘Lagos calling: Nigeria and the Integrated Review.’

In short, the tools we need to promote FoRB already exist. However, the push for greater FoRB around the world is not complete – it is an ongoing and ever-evolving mission, especially in countries as large and diverse as Nigeria.

Nigeria’s constitution guarantees the right to freedom of expression. However, violence along religious lines is a national problem, and the Nigerian criminal code makes it an offence to insult religion (meaning that accusations of ‘blasphemy’ merely for practising diverging FoRB can be criminally punished). In truth, “religious freedom conditions in Nigeria remain poor, with both state- and societally perpetrated violations.”

In Nigeria, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Humanists, Agnostics, Atheists, and other minority groups are all (to a greater or lesser degree depending on location) vulnerable to religious persecution and violence.

As you rightly say, for years we have witnessed a deterioration in FoRB for Christians in Nigeria. Despite constituting around half of Nigeria’s population, and as part of wider political violence in the country Christians have been subject to increased risk of violence.

According to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), there have been a rising number of attacks on Christian churches in Nigeria, rising from 18 in 2019, to 31 in 2020, to 23 in the first six months of 2022.

According to Open Doors, Nigeria is a country of extreme concern when it comes to the persecution of Christians. Open Doors also report that “[m]ore Christians are killed for their faith in Nigeria than in the rest of the world combined.”

Of acute concern is the 2021 assessment from Genocide Watch, which concluded that "Due to the continued systematic violence [committed by Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and Fulani Jihadists] against civilians, which directly targets Christians and moderate Muslims, Genocide Watch considers Nigeria to be at Stage 9: Extermination and Stage 10: Denial. The Nigerian government has not acknowledged these genocides and therefore is in denial.”

Genocide Watch also found that: “Since 2009, Boko Haram and its ideological splinter group the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have terrorized civilians in Northeast Nigeria. Islamist inspired violence has also taken root in other parts of the country, such as the Northwest and Middle Belt, where Fulani jihadists are perpetrating a genocidal campaign against Christians... Since 2015, Fulani militants have killed more than 11,500 Christians, according to the International Committee on Nigeria.”

This reality warrants an urgent and coordinated response from the international community. As such, SNP MPs in Westminster will press the UK Government on the following asks:

• Utilise the upcoming Universal Periodic Review at the OHCHR to better safeguard FoRB in Nigeria;
• Establish a joint UN-Nigerian Government Commission of Inquiry to investigate sectarian attacks on civilians;
• Respond in full to Genocide Watch’s conclusion that Fulani Jihadists “are perpetrating a genocidal campaign against Christians” in Nigeria’s Northwest and Middle Belt;
• Re-instate UK aid spending in Nigeria to pre-aid cut levels, prioritising conflict prevention projects;
• Engage in active discussion with Nigerian counterparts on the country’s blasphemy laws.

Please rest assured that the SNP take FoRB and religious persecution incredibly seriously. Far more needs to be done around the world to ensure that all populations, communities, and congregations can practice their faith (or live freely with no faith). We intend to be part of this conversation for as long as it takes.