Nigeria: The Status Quo Is Unacceptable – US Interfaith Delegation

BY AMOS DUNIA, ABUJA – A United States Interfaith leaders, after a fact-finding mission to portions of Nigeria, Africa’s largest country, said their message to Nigerian leaders is that the status quo is unacceptable, stressing that the government must do more to immediately fulfill its fundamental responsibility to protect all of its citizens.

The US Interfaith leaders gave Nigeria a verdict of ‘a ticking time bomb’ that may soon become ‘the most dangerous place on the planet.’
The leaders led by Rabbi Abraham Cooper and Reverend Johnnie Moore also noted that there are some people in government who are sincere about addressing the challenge and urged them to stand against those who are not and act now.
Cooper and Moore then asked; “Does anyone give a damn about the innocents dying every day in West Africa? If so, it’s time to show it.’
Last week, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and Rev. Johnnie Moore, President of The Congress of Christian Leaders and a Wiesenthal Center honoree, embarked upon a fact-finding mission to northern Nigeria to investigate targeted attacks by Islamist extremists against vulnerable Christian communities and other issues related to the ongoing conflict in West Africa.
They met with Christian and Muslim religious leaders, representatives of non-governmental organizations, senior government officials, and more than fifty survivors of attacks by Boko Haram, ISWAP and Fulani tribesmen.
While sharing his experience, Rabbi Cooper and Reverend Moore issue the following joint statement:
“You, like us, have no doubt heard of the attacks on communities throughout vulnerable parts of Nigeria. You’ve heard of the kidnapping and abuse of young women, the churches that have been burned, the homes that have been razed, and of the million or more children now roaming the streets out-of-school. “Maybe last week, you also heard about the second anniversary of the kidnapping of the courageous teenager Leah Sharibu or the torching of a bus the week before that or of the grotesque beheading of a noted Christian pastor two weeks before that.
“After our journey there, we want the world to know that you haven’t heard half of it. The terrorists’ aim to ethnically cleanse northern Nigeria of its Christians and to kill every Muslim who stands in their way.
“If things don’t change immediately, portions of Nigeria and the broader Lake Chad region may soon become the most dangerous place on the planet. “This portion of Africa will be ground zero for the next generation’s war on terrorism, and the humanitarian cost of letting these problems fester and multiply in the near-term could result in disaster for much of Western Africa.  
“It is a five-alarm-fire. Our message to the leaders of Nigeria is that the status quo is unacceptable, and the government must do more to immediately fulfill its fundamental responsibility to protect all of its citizens. We believe there are those in the government who are sincere about addressing this challenge. They must stand against those who are not and act now.
“Our message to the leadership of the United States, the United Kingdom, the African Union, and the European Union is that urgent action is needed, now. The United States can begin by appointing a special envoy to the region with the ability to do what needs to be done to address this emergency, beginning with a wide-reaching assessment of the effectiveness of all programs we are funding in the region.
“Our message to all leaders of the Abrahamic faiths is that we must give voice to the silent victims of religious terrorism and that we must unite in declaring ‘enough is enough!’ Religion should not be used as a weapon to divide but as a beacon of hope for a brighter future for all.
“From the struggle to free Soviet Jews to the rescuing of Yazidi and Christians targeted by Daesh in Iraq, we have both seen much in our efforts around the world—always starting by heeding the voices of the powerless — but we have rarely encountered a ticking time bomb potentially more perilous to global order and more detrimental to the innocent lives of men, women, and children than what is brewing in this part of Africa. We sincerely wonder, does anyone give a damn about the innocents dying every day in West Africa? If so, it’s time to show it.”
Cooper and Moore’s visit focused on the targeting of vulnerable communities, especially Christian communities in the northeast and north-central parts of Nigeria, while also meeting with Islamic leadership from throughout the country who also cited clear evidence that their communities have similarly been subject to targeted attacks by terrorists who, they lamented, had “hijacked their religion to advance their interests.”