Skip to main content

Nigerian govt to meet with U.S govt over ‘Special Watch List’

The Nigerian government will early next year, meet with the U.S government over its decision to place Nigeria on its Watch List

Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on this development, Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, said placing Nigeria on the Watch list does make Nigeria a country of concern on religious freedom.

He added that placing Nigeria on U.S. watch list carries no immediate implication, and that does not in any way make the country an area of concern as being asserted in some quarters.

The presidential aide maintained that Nigeria as a geo-political entity had no policy that promotes one religion against the other.

According to Shehu, the right to freedom of worship for all citizens is guaranteed in the Nigerian constitution
“The correct U.S. government position is that the addition of Nigeria to the watch list of the IRF does not make Nigeria a country of concern on religious freedom.

“The watch list carries no immediate implication, except for the need for both countries to discuss areas of concern over the next year. We are looking forward to such discussions with our partners, the U.S.

“We have no policy that promotes one religion against the other.


“The right to freedom is guaranteed by the constitution and we have no problem observing that,’’ he said.

The US listed Nigeria among ‘Countries of Particular Concern’over its perceived tolerance for “violations of religious freedom”.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said the US had re-designated Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as Countries of Particular Concern for having engaged in or tolerated “systematic, ongoing, [and] egregious violations of religious freedom”.

However, Comoros, Russia, Uzbekistan, Cuba, Nicaragua, Nigeria, and Sudan are on a “Special Watch List” for governments that have engaged in or tolerated “severe violations of religious freedom.”




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hurricane Hits Texas, One Person Reported Dead

Hurricane Harvey hit Texas as a Category 4 storm on Friday, battering the coast with 130-mph winds and torrential rain. It was the strongest hurricane to hit the United States in more than a decade leaving a massive destruction, loss of electricity, wrecked buildings and has so far killed at least one person. Scroll down to see more pictures of the incident:
Post a Comment
Read more

Kenyan Law Court dismisses case of man seeking compensation after his wife eloped with another man from hospital

  A lawsuit filed by a man seeking to be compensated by St Mary's Mission Hospital in Kenya for allowing his wife to leave the hospital with another man after giving birth, has been struck out by a law court.    The appellant had sued the St. Mary's Mission hospital at Kakamega law courts in 2020 seeking general damages from the facility on grounds that the hospital had discharged his wife and allowed her to leave with another man. After delivering and at the time of discharge, the wife of the appellant claimed he was the baby's father.   The court of appeal judges Patrick Kiage, Mumbi Ngugi and Francis Tuiyott sitting at the Kisumu Court of Appeal, empathized with the man, but disagreed that he (the appellant) be compensated by the hospital for not detaining his wife.  They upheld the lower court's judgement which added that there's no remedy that lies in the law for such grievances.   Kiage said;   "I agree that if a man takes the woman he loves to t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nigerian Military hands over 23 rescued children to UNICEF through Borno State

The Nigerian military has handed over 23 children who were formerly associated with Boko Haram insurgents, to UNICEF through the Borno State government.  The children were picked up during various military operations around the north-east region. Aged between 17 and 10 years, the boys and girls confessed to the military that they have been assisting the Boko Haram insurgents either as fighters or domestic helps in the camps. The Theatre Commander of a military counterinsurgency force, Abba Dikko, said the 23 children were released in line with Nigeria military’s commitment to the observance of human rights. He observed that the children and other vulnerable persons were victims who faced with the highly unstable circumstances induced by the conflict would have had little option but to fall under the thrall of the insurgents.  “We were able to identify this category of people, especially the women, the aged and children to whom it behooves our sense of duty and res...
Post a Comment
Read more