Oct 5, 2021

USCIRF Releases New Report on Religious Freedom in Nigeria’s Kano State

 

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following new report detailing religious freedom violations by Kano state authorities in northern Nigeria:

 

Kano State Issue Update – This report catalogues recent religious freedom violations committed by Kano state authorities, which represent some of the most egregious in Nigeria. In recent years—including in 2021—Kano authorities have arrested, charged, and convicted several individuals of blasphemy, prohibited broadcast stations from airing religious content, restricted religious poets and performers, and arrested and detained individuals from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) community based on the enforcement of their interpretation of Shari’a (Islamic law).

In its 2021 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. State Department designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations. USCIRF published a factsheet on violent Islamist groups in northern Nigeria in 2021 and featured a podcast episode on “Why the State Department Should Re-designate Nigeria as a CPC.”

 

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].