Nigeria is the world’s most dangerous place for Christians

Nigeria has been named the deadliest country for Christians, Catholic news outlet Crux reported on July 22nd. At least 18,000 Christians were killed in Nigeria between 2015 and 2023, data compiled by the International Christian Concern and Intersociety has found.

Nigeria, considered a secular nation, is home to 220 million people and is almost evenly split between Christians and Muslims. The Christian community dominate the South, while the Muslim population dominate the North. The Middle Belt of Nigeria is more religiously mixed.

In July, Reuters reported that former Nigerian President Muhammadu Bahari had died in a London clinic while battling leukaemia. The 82-year-old leader had ruled Nigeria from 2015 to 2023.

Buhari was an ethnic Fulani and devout Muslim who left behind a controversial legacy in Nigeria. Years of religious violence, economic hardship and political repression has led to Christian Nigerians condemning Buhari for failing to protect the persecuted Christian community from repeated attacks.

Under the country’s new president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria’s legal system has continued to impose constraints on freedom of religion or belief. According to a statement issued by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), blasphemy laws across 12 Nigerian states is particularly restricting religious freedom in Nigeria.

The USCIRF statement noted that there are currently four Muslims, two of which are religious leaders, who have been imprisoned under blasphemy laws. The commission also pointed to the governments failed response to attacks against Christians carried out by Fulani pastoralists, a nomadic ethnic group, bandit gangs and insurgencies like Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

“Despite efforts to reduce violence by nonstate actors, the government is often slow to react to violent attacks by Fulani herders, bandit gangs, or insurgents such as Jama’at Ahl al-Sunna lid-Dawah wa’al-Jihad (JAS/Boko Haram), the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and other groups invoking Islam to commit acts of violence,” USCIRF wrote.

Despite promising the US that Nigeria would uphold freedom of religion and expression in April, according to a Genocide Watch report, more than 200 Nigerian Christians were killed in what was dubbed the “latest massacre” in June.

Amid a wave of targeted attacks on religious communities, heavily armed Fulani jihadists killed the Christian villagers in Yelwata, a farming district in Guma County, Benue State. Sources at the scene described a group of around 40 gunman moving from house to house and opening fire on civilians.

Yelwata’s population is 97% Christian. The village also acts as a settlement for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who fled earlier Fulani militia attacks in other villages.

“They came from Rukubi in Doma, Keana, Obi, and other counties in Nasarawa State,” local youth leader, Mton Matthias, said. “They surrounded Yelwata, speaking Hausa and Fufulde, and began slaughtering people—mostly women, children, and displaced families who thought they had found safety here.”

“We’re still finding bodies in the bushes,” he added. “The death toll is rising every hour.”

“In recent months, tensions across religious communities have significantly increased. In March, Catholic Bishop Wilfred Anagbe testified before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on the increasing violence against Nigerian Christians in Benue State. Subsequent to testifying, he received threats by unidentified sources,” the USCIRF report added.

“Deadly attacks in Nigeria by violent groups as well as kidnappings by bandit gangs targeting religious communities prevent Christians, Muslims, Humanists, and traditionalists from openly and freely practicing their religion or belief.”

In its 2025 Annual Report published in May, USCIRF recommended that the US Department of State designate Nigeria as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ for failing to protect believers and non-believers alike. USCIRF also slammed the nation for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.

Crux, International Christian Concern, Intersociety, Reuters, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), Genocide Watch