According to the association, the US government did not consult nor did it seek its opinion when making its decision in removing Nigeria from the watchlist.

In a statement, the CAN President Reverend Samson Ayokunle stated that if the US government had called the association, it would have been able to compare statistics from the past and present on the problem of religious freedom in Nigeria.

He said; “Whatever may be the data they used, our prayer is that Nigeria would be a country where no religious group is discriminated against or persecuted and that our government would see to it that all religiously biased policies are discontinued.”

Ayokunle said Christians in Nigeria were still facing persecution from ISWAP and the Boko Haram Islamic, adding, “These are the people who said their agenda was to wipe away Christianity from Nigeria and to plant Islam as the only religion from the North down to the Atlantic Ocean in the South. That agenda with the killing of Christians has not stopped till today and Nigerians are living witnesses.

“The bandits have joined other militant Islamic groups to be ferociously attacking churches, killing worshippers and kidnapping for ransom. The herdsmen are equally doing their havoc. We have lost many people and places of worship to their assault, especially in the Northcentral part of the country and the North East.

“Though the madness has grown now and those who are not Christians are being attacked, killed, and kidnapped, this is because these criminal acts have become a lucrative business and it is whoever you can kidnap for money! If the government had responded appropriately when this criminal madness began and subdued these evil groups immediately, we wouldn’t be where we are now!”

He went on to clarify that CAN had previously advocated for government policy to be religiously neutral so that no faith group feels favored or discriminated against.