When Deborah Samuel Yakubu’s Muslim classmates stoned her to death and set her body on fire outside her college in northern Nigeria in 2022, Nigeria was no longer on America’s list of counties of “particular concern.” The Biden administration removed Nigeria from the list of nations with religious freedom concerns in 2021 despite reports of ongoing persecution of Christians.  

Yakubu, a 22-year-old Christian, was accused of sharing “blasphemous” statements about Islam over the messaging application WhatsApp. Muhammadu Buhari, the president of Nigeria at the time, condemned the stoning and called for an investigation. Two individuals were arrested for the crime, but were later released after never having been convicted.  

Still, Nigeria remained off the U.S. list of “Countries of Particular Concern.”  

The Biden administration put “no real pressure” on Nigeria’s government over the persecution of Christians, and so the leaders of the African nation acted “like there was no problem,” Sean Nelson, senior counsel for Global Religious Freedom with Alliance Defending Freedom International, told The Daily........

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