US Commits $3.5m To Nigeria Religion Violence Monitoring
The United States Department of State has announced a $3.5 million fund, estimated at about N5bn, to support the monitoring and reporting of religious freedom violations in Nigeria.
The programme will be managed by the Office of International Religious Freedom and is expected to run for between two and four years.
The initiative is designed to improve the documentation of attacks and abuses linked to religion and belief across the country.
Washington said the project would support accountability efforts and help preserve records of incidents involving both state and non-state actors.
The US cited reports of violence carried out by Boko Haram, ISWAP, Fulani militias and other armed groups, noting that both Christians and Muslims have been affected.
It also raised concerns over claims that some attacks on faith communities were not addressed quickly enough by authorities.
Applications for the funding programme are open to qualified organisations in Nigeria and abroad, with activities expected to focus largely on the Middle Belt.
While former US President Donald Trump designated Nigeria a country of concern over religious freedom issues, the Federal Government has repeatedly maintained that insecurity affects citizens of all faiths and not one religious group alone.
