By Ezinwanne Onwuka
For millions of Nigerians, violence has become an inescapable part of daily life. Church services, mosque prayers, a trip to the farm, or even a night’s sleep can turn deadly without warning. Across many communities, people now live with the constant fear that the next attack could come at any moment. In its 2026 annual report, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) described Nigeria as facing a “terrifying crisis of religious violence,” pointing to a wave of killings, church burnings, kidnappings, and mass displacements blamed on militant groups operating across northern and central parts of the country.
A “Terrifying Crisis of Religious Violence”
USCIRF released its 2026 Annual Report on March 4, spotlighting what it called Nigeria’s “terrifying crisis of religious violence.”
Vicky Hartzler, the commission’s chair and a former Republican member of Congress from Missouri, said Nigerians remain trapped in a worsening cycle of attacks.
“The people of Nigeria continue to face religious freedom violations and suffer a deeply tragic and ongoing crisis of violence” at the hands of “non-state militants espousing a violent interpretation of Islam,” Hartzler said at the report’s launch.
According to the USCIRF, armed groups including Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and Fulani militias are responsible for killings, displacements, church burnings, and kidnappings across northern and central Nigeria. The report also faults the government of Bola Ahmed Tinubu for its slow and inadequate responses to the attacks.
“Nigeria is facing a terrifying crisis of religious violence,” the report stated.
“The unfolding catastrophe is the outcome of a lethal confluence of trends: religiously motivated extremist violence; economic and ethnic tensions, long left to fester; corrosive, state-level blasphemy laws; and years of both inadequate response and pervasive corruption from the Nigerian government.”
Communities Living Under Constant Threat
The USCIRF report comes as fresh attacks have shaken the country in recent weeks.
In early January, gunmen attacked communities in Niger State and Kebbi State, killing 50 people. By mid-January, more than 35 Christians had been killed in separate attacks across Plateau, Benue, and Taraba states.
The violence escalated further on January 18 in Kurmin Wali in Kaduna State, where about 165 worshippers were abducted from three churches during Sunday services. Witnesses said gunmen on motorcycles surrounded the churches between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., blocked the exits, and forced congregants into nearby bushes.
Church leaders in Taraba State say more than 100 people have been killed in separate attacks there, with over 200 churches and communities destroyed and about 90,000 Catholics displaced.
On February 3, Lakurawa terrorists descended on Woro and Nuku communities in Kwara State, killing at least 175 people for reportedly rejecting the terrorists’ demands to adopt their extremist version of Sharia law. Reacting to the killings, Pope Leo XIV expressed “sorrow and concern,” and prayed for victims of “violence and terrorism.”
International Alarm Bells
In its 2026 World Watch List, the advocacy group Open Doors ranked Nigeria seventh among the 50 most dangerous countries for Christians. The organization said the country accounted for 3,490 of the 4,849 Christians killed worldwide for their faith during the reporting period.
The issue has also gained political attention in Washington.
While the country remains listed by the U.S. State Department as a Country of Particular Concern, some American conservative groups and lawmakers have continued to press for stronger U.S. involvement in addressing violence in Africa’s most populous nation.
At the launch of the USCIRF report, California congressman Brad Sherman stressed the importance of defending religious liberty worldwide.
“There is nothing more important to American values than freedom of religion,” Sherman said. “It’s in the First Amendment for a reason, and we need a foreign policy that reflects our values as a nation.”
“This commission, shining a light on oppressed religious groups around the world, has done a lot to elevate our discourse on foreign policy,” he added. “I congratulate the commission on bringing this report to us. It will get a lot of serious discussion.”
Mixed Reactions from Nigerians
While some citizens welcome the global attention, others question how the crisis is being framed.
“It may sound shocking to people outside Nigeria, but for those of us in these areas, it is our reality,” Ali Danjuma, a young farmer in Niger State, told TruthNigeria. “People are dying in our communities, and our farms are no longer safe. We sleep every night wondering if the bandits will come again.”
Danjuma said international reports like that of the USCIRF draw attention to the suffering in rural communities. “If the world does not speak about it, nothing will change,” he added.
Others say the violence should not be viewed strictly as a religious conflict.
“For many Nigerians following the recent U.S. policy conversation on violence in Nigeria, the earlier framing of a ‘Christian genocide’ was not only unsettling but alienating,” Collins Nweke, a former Green Councilor at Ostend City Council, Belgium, told TruthNigeria. “It is therefore both welcome and commendable that this framing has now been dropped in favor of the more accurate and responsible term: religious persecution.”
Nweke added, “Muslims, like Christians, are being killed in large numbers in Nigeria’s theatres of violence. This acknowledgment aligns far more closely with what Nigerians living the reality already know: that religious identity is often weaponized in conflicts whose roots also include banditry, insurgency, criminal economies, state fragility, and local power struggles.”
Nigerian Officials Push Back
Officials in the government of Bola Ahmed Tinubu have rejected claims that Nigeria’s violence amounts to systematic religious persecution.
Yusuf Tuggar, Nigeria’s foreign minister since 2023, said allegations of state-backed religious persecution are unfounded.
“It’s impossible for there to be a religious persecution that can be supported in any way, shape or form by the government of Nigeria at any level, be it federal, be it regional, be it local. It’s impossible,” he said.
Information Minister Mohammed Idris echoed this stance, insisting the violent activities of terrorist groups are not limited to any one religious or ethnic community. He described such claims as “false, baseless, despicable, and divisive.”
Still, the Nigerian government has taken tougher steps to address the threat. In December 2025, authorities officially designated bandits and Fulani militant groups as terrorist organizations.
Ezinwanne Onwuka writes special features for TruthNigeria.
