Is There a Christian Genocide in Nigeria? A Fact-Check Investigation

The Grim Numbers: Death in Thousands

The figures are shocking. Between 2009 and 2025, more than 52,000 Christians have been killed across Nigeria, according to Intersociety, a respected civil rights group. That’s not a typo – fifty-two thousand! In the first seven months of 2025 alone, about 7,087 Christians were murdered, and over 7,800 kidnapped. That’s nearly thirty Christian deaths every single day.

• READ ALSO: Meet The Man Who Bombed A Church On Christmas Day

The Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA) reports that between 2019 and 2023, nearly 55,910 Nigerians died in violent attacks. At least 16,769 of them were confirmed Christians. These are not isolated incidents. They are part of a frightening pattern.

Who’s Doing the Killing?

Three main groups appear again and again in reports: Boko Haram, ISWAP, and armed Fulani herdsmen. Boko Haram’s goal has always been clear – establish an Islamic caliphate and crush Christianity in the north.

• READ ALSO: Meet Africa’s Richest Philanthropists

The herder militias, on the other hand, hide behind resource conflicts but often choose Christian villages for their attacks. Witnesses frequently report hearing shouts of “Allahu Akbar!” as attackers burn homes and churches. Even Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch confirm these are targeted, religiously motivated killings. The Nigerian government prefers the term “farmer-herder conflict,” but the evidence suggests something deeper.

What the World Is Saying

In 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump told Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in Washington: “We have very serious problems with Christians being murdered in Nigeria. We cannot allow that to happen.” Buhari blamed it on “cross-border bandits” from Libya. But the killings continued long after that meeting.

• READ ALSO: The Commercialization of Gospel Music: Business Or Ministry?

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has listed Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” for several years. Amnesty International has also documented thousands of Christian deaths and forced displacements in Benue, Plateau, and Kaduna. Even Open Doors, the global Christian watchdog, ranks Nigeria as the world’s second deadliest country for Christians.

Does It Qualify as Genocide?

Now comes the hard question: Do these atrocities meet the legal test for genocide? The United Nations Genocide Convention defines genocide as an intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a religious group. So far, there’s no document or speech showing a central plan by the Nigerian state.

• READ ALSO: Nigerian Journalists Killed In The Line Of Duty – Stories Of Courage and Sacrifice

However, the pattern of killings suggests a coordinated and targeted campaign against Christians. When attackers repeatedly target Christian villages, churches, and clergy, the intent becomes hard to ignore. Genocide Watch and the Religious Freedom Institute have both warned that the Christian genocide in Nigeria may already be underway. Take Madamai village in Southern Kaduna. In one night, 38 Christians were killed, including children. Survivors say the attackers came with military-grade weapons and torched the entire settlement. In Owo, Ondo State, in June 2022, gunmen stormed St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church during Sunday Mass. More than 50 worshippers died. The attack was later linked to ISWAP militants.

• READ ALSO: Donald Trump, Racist: Fact Or Fiction?

Each killing leaves behind a trail of orphans, widows, and displaced families. As of mid-2025, over 14 million Christians have been uprooted from their ancestral homes.

Southern Kaduna: A Valley of Blood and Silence

Southern Kaduna, a predominantly Christian region, has suffered some of the most brutal massacres. Between 2016 and 2021, over 3,000 Christians were murdered, according to local advocacy groups and the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU). Villages like Kagoro, Zangon Kataf, and Kafanchan have been repeatedly attacked by armed Fulani herdsmen. Homes are burned, children killed, and entire communities displaced. Yet, during this period, the then-governor, Nasir El-Rufai – a Muslim – often blamed “reprisal attacks” or “mutual community clashes.” Critics accused him of turning a blind eye, or worse, providing cover for the killers through his inaction.

• READ ALSO: 40 Hollywood Actors Who Are Originally Nigerians

In 2020, El-Rufai controversially admitted to having “paid off” some foreign Fulani herders to stop the killings – a statement that drew national outrage. The killings, however, continued. Amnesty International described Southern Kaduna as “under siege,” and the Nigerian Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) called it a “state-backed ethnic cleansing.” This region remains one of the strongest cases proving an ongoing Christian genocide in Nigeria.

A Tragic Pattern Across the Middle Belt

The same story echoes across Plateau, Benue, Taraba, and Adamawa States. In 2022, Fulani militias massacred more than 80 Christians in Miango and Bassa communities in Plateau State. In Benue, over 1,700 Christians were killed in just one year, according to the state government. Mass burials are now a routine sight in rural Christian communities. Survivors flee to IDP camps, where aid is scarce. Meanwhile, perpetrators are rarely prosecuted.

Church Bombing

Since the Boko Haram insurgency began in 2009, thousands of Christian churches in Nigeria have been burned, bombed, or destroyed. The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) estimates that between 17,000 and 19,000 churches, along with about 2,000 Christian schools, have been attacked nationwide – roughly 1,200 churches every year. Groups like Amnesty International and Open Doors have confirmed similar patterns of faith-targeted violence. The Church of the Brethren (EYN), for instance, says 300 of its 586 branches were destroyed between 2009 and 2020. While Nigeria’s government has never released official figures, the evidence from NGOs and church networks leaves little doubt: across the north and Middle Belt, hundreds to thousands of churches have been deliberately destroyed by Islamist extremists over the past decade.

The Government’s Defense

Nigerian officials reject the word “genocide.” They claim the violence is driven by land disputes, not religion. But critics point out that Muslim communities rarely suffer attacks on this scale. Security forces often arrive hours late – or not at all. Few perpetrators are ever arrested or prosecuted. To many observers, government inaction looks like silent complicity.

The Verdict

Whether you call it genocide or religious cleansing, the facts speak loudly. Tens of thousands of Christians are dead. Villages are wiped out. Millions displaced. It may not yet be proven as genocide in a legal court, but morally, it looks and feels like one. The world cannot look away. As the evidence piles up, the question is no longer “Is there a Christian genocide in Nigeria?” The real question is: How much longer will the world pretend not to see it?

• READ ALSO: Timeline Of Accidental Bombing By Nigerian Military