A new report released by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has estimated that over 5,000 Nigerian Christians were killed in 2022, while more than 3,000 were kidnapped. The report comes as some religious freedom advocates have described the persecution of Christians in Nigeria as genocide.
Intersociety dedicates the report “to 1,041 slain and disappeared victims of the Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen and other Jihadists’ genocidal attacks carried out across Nigeria in the first 100 days of 2023.” The report states that these victims represent “5,068 others slain or caused to disappear without traces till date by Nigerian Jihadists in 2022.”
The estimates were based on reports from various sources, including media outlets, government reports, statistics from nongovernmental organizations, and estimates from diplomats. The report also highlights that over 1,000 Christians have been killed in 2023 alone.
According to The Christian Post, the violence has been most prevalent in the states of Benue, Kaduna, Plateau, Taraba, Niger, Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, and Kebbi. Nigeria has long been plagued by violence, with the northern part of the country being predominantly Islamic and the southern region being predominantly Christian.
The perpetrators of the violence are believed to be members of radical Islamic terror groups, including Fulani herdsmen groups, Boko Haram, and ISAWP (Islamic State West Africa Province). The report also alleges that the Nigerian military is responsible for some of the killings. Nigerian Christians have long called for the government to take more action to stop the violence and have accused them of encouraging it.
The report, compiled by criminologist Emeka Umeagbalasi, also criticizes Christian leaders in Nigeria, stating that “the dry material quest and lackadaisical attitudes of the Nigerian Christian leaders are also forcing Christian converts to leave the Church in droves to embrace other non-Christian denominations.” The report warns that if urgent action is not taken to address the situation, “the churches or church buildings in Nigeria will become the present-day Turkish church monuments in fifty years time or less than that.”
This news comes just months after the Biden administration excluded Nigeria from its religious liberty watchlist for the second consecutive year. In December, the State Department received criticism from religious liberty advocates for not including Nigeria on its “Countries of Particular Concern list,” which identifies countries that endorse or allow religious violence. The report by Intersociety adds further evidence of the dire situation faced by Nigerian Christians and raises renewed calls for action to address the ongoing persecution.
