Hashim raises alarm over 3.68m IDPs, insecurity before US commission.
Hashim also called for the release of Hausa cultural activist, Maisango, […] The post Hashim raises alarm over 3.68m IDPs, insecurity before US commission appeared first on Vanguard News .
ABUJA — Accord Party presidential candidate, Dr Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has drawn the attention of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to Nigeria’s estimated 3.68 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), calling for greater international intervention over insecurity, religious persecution and ethnic discrimination.
He made the appeal during an engagement with the commission on Friday, where he discussed Nigeria’s religious freedom and humanitarian challenges.
According to a statement on the engagement, Hashim acknowledged that Christians in Northern Nigeria face persecution but argued that religious freedom violations also affect Muslim minorities, including Shia Muslims and Hausa communities. He said Nigeria’s religious freedom challenges extended beyond the conventional Christian-Muslim divide, alleging that ethnic identity and cultural affiliation also influenced religious and social acceptance in some communities. The Accord candidate particularly raised concerns about what he described as the marginalisation of Hausa Muslims in parts of Northern Nigeria, arguing that some communities experience unequal treatment despite sharing the same Islamic faith with other groups. On Maisango’s detention, Hashim alleged that the cultural activist had been held without trial despite reportedly being dismissed from his employment with the Department of State Services (DSS).
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