The United States has said Nigeria has yet to make sufficient progress in addressing attacks on Christian communities, warning that the country\u2019s designation as a Country of Particular Concern should remain in place.\n<\/p>\n
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Frank Garcia, stated this while responding to questions from US Congressman Riley Moore during a congressional hearing on violence in Nigeria<\/a> on Thursday.\n<\/p>\n Moore had questioned the Nigerian government\u2019s efforts to dismantle militia strongholds and kidnapping camps in the Middle Belt, particularly in Benue and Plateau states, and demanded to know what operations had been conducted since US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Allison Hooker, raised concerns about the pace of Nigeria\u2019s response in August.\n<\/p>\n He also questioned why Benue and Plateau were not included among the 10 states covered by Nigeria\u2019s new forest guard initiative, despite the persistent attacks in the two states, and noted that 1,000 presidentially approved guards for Plateau had yet to be deployed.<\/p>\n The congressman said the US should not remove Nigeria from the CPC list, arguing that the country had not done enough to address the violence.\n<\/p>\n \u201cBefore you answer that, we cannot take this CPC designation off of this country. They have not done enough,\u201d Moore said.<\/p>\n Responding, Garcia acknowledged that Nigeria had not made sufficient progress, but said the government was taking steps to address the concerns, although the measures had yet to produce the desired impact.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we would agree, as Under Secretary Hooker stated, after our CPC meeting that progress has not been there, but that doesn\u2019t mean that Nigeria is dismissing concerns, and it doesn\u2019t mean that they\u2019re not taking actions, but it does mean that it hasn\u2019t had an impact to this point,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n Garcia identified the establishment of the US-Nigeria Joint Working Group as an important step towards ensuring accountability, saying it would provide a framework for monitoring the Nigerian government\u2019s commitments and assessing results.\n<\/p>\n He also acknowledged US-supported counterterrorism operations in the Lake Chad Basin but said such efforts had not necessarily addressed the activities of Fulani militants operating across the Middle Belt.\n<\/p>\n \u201cI would have to characterise the Nigerians\u2019 placement at this point as in building capacity. And that capacity is not deployed, is not being effective yet, and is not moving fast enough, as far as I\u2019m concerned. But we do see a seriousness, and a deployment underway with the Nigerian government,\u201d Garcia said. <\/p>\n