What Is Happening in Nigeria?

In recent weeks the persecution of Christians in Nigeria has received increased international attention. Many commentators are alleging a genocide of Christians in Nigeria. The U.S. government has redesignated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for religious freedom violations, and President Donald Trump has threatened to send troops to protect Christian communities from Islamists. What is happening in Nigeria?

Are Christians being killed in Nigeria?

Yes, Christians in central (Middle Belt) and northern Nigeria are being killed in their hundreds. Many of our brothers and sisters have been left injured, bereaved, and in some places displaced from their homes.

There are now mass graves throughout Nigeria’s Middle Belt.

The attacks are “not random incidents,” according to Benue State governor Hyacinth Alia, himself a former church minister. “We believe they are coordinated efforts, possibly aimed at exterminating our people.” 

Who is attacking Nigerian Christians?

Most of the attacks in Middle Belt states such as Benue, Kaduna, and Plateau are conducted by Islamist militia groups drawn from extremists within the Muslim-majority Fulani people. 

Watch now: Faith in the Fire – A powerful documentary exploring persecution and Christian faith in Nigeria

It is this conflict that is most often mischaracterized as nothing more than a dispute over land and resources between Muslim-majority herders and Christian-majority farmers. Yet as early as 2014 the Global Terrorism Index named these militia as the fourth deadliest terrorist group in the world.

“They were trained terrorists with guns,” says one survivor.

“They killed those who couldn’t run – the aged, the children, the blind. A pastor was their first casualty. They surrounded him. They killed him and then they rejoiced."

“Fulani militia see the land as their land. Villagers try to return but they cannot withstand the arms … If you dare to go back to that place you will not come back alive.”

What about Boko Haram and Islamic State?

Both Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) are active in northern Nigeria.

Christians are among their victims. On November 4, ISWAP claimed the killing of at least one Christian near Chibok in the north-eastern state of Borno. Chibok became infamous in 2014 when Boko Haram abducted more than 270 schoolgirls, most of whom were Christians.

Pastor Paul Musa and his wife, Ruth, were abducted by Boko Haram from their home in northern Borno in 2023. Both are still being held.

How many Christians in Nigeria have been killed?

Barnabas Aid estimates that at least 45,000 believers have been killed by Islamists in northern and Middle Belt Nigeria since 2009.

Read more: Islamic State Demands that African Christians Convert or Submit to Islamic Rule

This number could be even greater – some estimates suggest 50-60,000, and some go even higher.

However, it should also be noted that these terrorist groups do not solely attack Christians. Both engage in conflict with the Nigeria armed forces, and many of their victims are Muslims. Western media often wrongly assume that victims of Islamist terrorism are always Christians.

Is there genocide of Christians in Nigeria?

The accusation of anti-Christian genocide in Nigeria’s Middle Belt is entirely justified.

Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide states that genocide includes killing or causing serious bodily and mental harm “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group.”

Read more: Christians Slaughtered in Nigeria – You Can Help Defend Them

The scale of the death toll, life-changing injuries, and mass displacement of Christian communities caused by the Fulani militia and other Islamists fulfills this definition of genocide.

It should be noted, however, that it is not the Nigerian government that is conducting genocide or anything like it. Rather, it is the terrorist groups, which the Nigerian authorities have struggled to curb. It should also be remembered that there are many armed criminal gangs who attack indiscriminately and have no ideological agenda.  

How is Barnabas Aid helping?

Barnabas Aid is providing practical assistance for Nigerian victims of violence.

In one recent project, our supporters funded the provision of hygiene items, mosquito nets, and blankets in Plateau’s Bokkos Local Government Area. You have also sent Bibles to displaced believers across the region.  

Supporters are funding the upgrade and expansion of an Early Warning System designed to alert both Christian communities and security forces in southern Plateau and Kaduna states of impending attacks.

Information, intelligence, and sightings of terrorists will be shared on high-speed internet, delivered via satellite, ensuring that life-saving alerts will reach vulnerable Christian communities in Kaduna and southern Plateau states in real time. These alerts can also be shared with the security services in the region.

You can now watch Barnabas Aid’s powerful documentary about persecution of Christians in Nigeria, Faith in the Fire . Learn more about the trials facing your brothers and sisters, and experience their unwavering faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.