NIGERIA COUNTRY PROFILE
“Violence targeting Christians and other religious minorities continues to be rampant,” warned UN experts in June 2026. 141 In 2024-26, Christians experienced mass attacks and abductions, particularly in the northeast and Middle Belt. They also reported deep-rooted discrimination, including political and educational exclusion — as well as being targeted for kidnapping. Attacks on mostly Christian settlements across the Middle Belt have contributed to more than 3.5 million IDPs across Nigeria. The overly simplistic reading of this as a clash between farmers and Fulani herders is increasingly questioned, as witnesses describe militants driving out Christians to seize their land. Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of Makurdi said: “What is occurring… is an organized, systematic, and brutal cleansing of Christians.” Radicalization of parts of the Fulani herder community 142 means religion is a driver — as witnessed by militants shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) when killing Yelewata’s Christian IDPs (See case study). In several northern states, blasphemy laws exist in state penal codes, and in Kano, Zamfara, Yobe, and Sokoto States, the Hisbah (religious police) — operating in violation of Article 214.1 of the federal constitution — enforce Sharia. For example, by destroying alcohol, prohibiting public eating during Ramadan (even for non-Muslims), and arresting those who do not comply. Forced conversion and marriage of women and girls is an issue, with Islamists posing the biggest problem. Christians — who, at the peak of the jihadist kidnappings in the last decade, made up c. 95 percent of the females held 143 — have been coerced to convert to Islam and compelled to enter sexual relations, often being made to marry their assailants. Despite the apex of Islamist abductions having passed, many are still held: of the 276 Chibok girls seized in 2014, 91 remain unaccounted for. 144
SELECTED INCIDENTS
JANUARY 2026 177 worshipers were kidnapped from three churches in northern Kaduna State. 148
MARCH 2025 Father Sylvester Okechukwu was kidnapped and murdered in Kafanchan Diocese. Seized from his residence on the evening of Tuesday, March 4, he was found dead early the next day. 145 MAY 2025 36 Christians were killed, nine injured, and two abducted in a series of attacks by Fulani militants in Gwer West, Benue State over 24 th —26 th . The first attack saw Father Solomon Atongo shot as he returned from a memorial service for two Catholic priests. 146 NOVEMBER 2025 253 children as young as six and 12 members of staff were seized from St. Mary’s Catholic School on Friday, November 21. On Monday, December 22, authorities said all students and staff had been released. 147
APRIL 2026 Kano State authorities defied a High Court order, failing to release seven children seized from a Christian orphanage. Among the 27 children taken in 2019 raids and placed in state care, they faced pressure to convert to Islam. A child had died in January 2026 after being denied medical treatment. 149 JUNE 2026 Pastor Markus Nyam was among 28 Christians killed in an attack on Kawel village in Bokkos, Plateau State on Monday, June 22. Eyewitness Jesse Peter Dukut said Fulani militants called out the names of Church leaders: “They were being directed to hunt them down in their homes.” 150
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