The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar lll, has has responded to Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) over its reaction to the recent inclusion of Nigeria on Special Watch-List (SWL) by the United States for tolerating severe religious persecution.
The U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, had while announcing the development last week said in a statement: “On December 18, 2019, the Department of State re-designated Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as Countries of Particular Concern under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 for having engaged in or tolerated “systematic, ongoing, [and] egregious violations of religious freedom.
“The Department renewed the placement of Comoros, Russia, and Uzbekistan on a Special Watch List (SWL) for governments that have engaged in or tolerated “severe violations of religious freedom,” and added Cuba, Nicaragua, Nigeria, and Sudan to this list.”
CAN had consequently supported the report, claiming Christians were the worst hit by terrorist activities in Nigeria.
Expressing dissastisfaction with CAN’s view however, the Sultan stated it was unfortunate the body would follow the bandwagon of those generalising all Fulanis as muslims.
The Sultan who made this know while speaking at the closing ceremony of 77th annual Islamic Vacation Course (IVC) organised by the Muslim Society of Nigeria (MSSN) at Bayero University, Kano, said such claim was false and partial.
He stated “if such persecution really exists, such is supposed to be tabled at the Interfaith forum where Muslims and Christians leaders meet periodically to discuss issues that would promote harmonious coexistence between the two religions (Christianity and Islam.”
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