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SPECIAL WATCH LIST: Nigerian govt accuses US of ‘sowing seed of religious discord’

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Lai Mohammed

The Federal Government on Sunday accused the United States of attempting to sow a seed of religious discord among the various religious groups in Nigeria with its recent report.

The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, had recently announced Nigeria as one of the countries in the country’s “Special Watch List” of nations that engaged in, or tolerated religious violations in their territory

In a statement issued in Abuja, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said the federal government rejected the US designation of Nigeria as “a country that engages in or tolerates severe violations of religious freedom.”

Mohammed said the “iniquitous tag” stemmed from an orchestrated narrative that had long been discredited.

He said Nigerians enjoyed unfettered freedom to practise their religions.

The minister blamed failed politicians and “disgruntled elements – some of them supposedly respected leaders, for latching on to religion as their trump card, especially in the run-up to the 2019 general elections in the country”.

The minister said it was unfortunate that the US fell for the antics of “the discontented and the unpatriotic few, who will not hesitate to hang Nigeria out to dry on the altar of their inordinate ambition and their sheer animosity towards the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.”

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He said: “The deliberate effort to give religious colouration to the farmers-herders clashes and the Boko Haram insurgency, in particular, has undoubtedly helped to mislead the US into concluding that the government is doing little or nothing to guarantee religious freedom in the country.

“But, as we have always said, the farmers-herders clashes have nothing to do with religion, but everything to do with environmental and socio-economic realities.

“The religious tag given to the clashes has no basis in fact, but it is very convenient for those who will very easily give the dog a bad name just to hang it.

“On its part, the Boko Haram terrorists are extreme fanatics who do not subscribe to the tenets of any religion, in spite of their pretence to Islamic adherence.”

The minister said the good news was that the government had succeeded in curbing the farmers-herders clashes through the implementation of proactive and multi-dimensional strategy that is yielding remarkable results.

He added the government had largely defeated the Boko Haram insurgency.

“On the El-Zakzaky issue, which was referred to in the report by the US government, it is purely a criminal matter, which is being handled by a court of competent jurisdiction,” the minister concluded.

Mohammed said while the government welcomes constructive criticism from any quarter, it rejects any attempt to sow the seed of mistrust among the various religious groups in the country.

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