Federal Government has rejected United States designation of Nigeria as a country that engages in or tolerates severe violations of religious freedom.

United States in its Special Watch List placed Nigeria amongst countries that its government had engaged in or tolerated the severe violation of religious freedom.

According to Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, the tag was birthed from disgruntled politicians who have latched on to religion as their trump card to discredit the President Muhamadu Buhari-led Federal Government.

Mohammed said Nigerians enjoyed unfettered freedom to practice their religion and it was unfortunate that United States fell for the antics of the discontented and the unpatriotic few.

He said the move to give religious coloration to the farmers-herders clashes and the Boko haram insurgency, had helped to mislead the United States into concluding government was doing nothing to guarantee religious freedom in the country.

He said it is unfortunate that the US fell for the antics of the discontented and the unpatriotic few, who will not hesitate to hang Nigeria out to dry on the altar of their inordinate ambition and their sheer animosity towards the Administration.

The Minister stated that the Nigerian government is acutely aware of how the political opposition, in particular, had spared no resources in deriving political capital from the various security challenges in the country. ‘

‘The deliberate effort to give religious coloration to the farmers-herders clashes and the Boko Haram insurgency, in particular, has undoubtedly helped to mislead the US into concluding that the government is doing little or nothing to guarantee religious freedom in the country.

”But, as we have always said, the farmers-herders clashes have nothing to do with religion but everything to do with environmental and socio-economic realities.

The religious tag given to the clashes has no basis in fact, but is very convenient for those who will very easily give the dog a bad name just to hang it. On its part, the Boko Haram terrorists are extreme fanatics who do not subscribe to the tenets of any religion, in spite of their pretence to Islamic adherence,” Mr. Mohammed concluded.