The Nigerian Christian community is reeling under a wave of militant violence. In recent months, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) publicly accused the Tinubu Presidency of mischaracterising the slaughter of Christians as mere banditry, branding ongoing attacks a form of “Christian genocide”. CAN President Daniel Okoh clarified that there was no question over the campaign’s nature: “Across many parts of Northern Nigeria and the Middle Belt, Christian communities have suffered repeated, organised and brutal attacks”. Thousands have been killed, villages burned and families displaced in a pattern of violence “persisting for years without justice or closure”.
The controversy erupted when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s media adviser issued a statement. He claimed Okoh had referred to the killings as a “so-called genocide.” CAN flatly denied this claim. Archbishop Okoh insisted the apex church body’s position never changed – that these are not isolated criminal acts but a coordinated campaign against Christian communities.
CAN has since demanded that the government urgently protect its citizens and bring perpetrators to justice. The row has reignited fierce debate. Are these attacks “genocide”? What role have Nigeria’s leaders played in the carnage?
Islamist Insurgents in the North-East: Boko Haram and ISWAP
The Boko Haram/ISWAP insurgency in the north-east has been a longstanding terror. From 2009 onwards, Boko Haram has waged jihad against “Western” influences and non-Muslims, mainly in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states. These Islamist militants have killed tens of thousands of Nigerians and displaced millions. They infamously kidnapped schoolgirls (Chibok 2014) and attacked churches.
For example, in April 2025 the Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) claimed responsibility for twin raids in Adamawa State that targeted Christian villagers, killing two people and torching over 30 houses and a church. A Reuters report noted that ISWAP’s video release showed Christians’ homes and a church in flames. The government now vows to “crush” ISWAP, having boosted the defence budget by over 40%.
A seminary church building in Kaduna, northern Nigeria. Islamist militants have burned dozens of churches in recent years.
President Trump drew global attention to the plight of Nigerian Christians early on. During their 2018 White House meeting, he stressed being “deeply concerned by religious violence in Nigeria, including… the burning of churches and the killing and persecution of Christians”. His press secretary later noted that “several thousand” Christians had been “brutally murdered because of their faith” – language almost identical to CAN’s.
The Trump Administration formally placed Nigeria on its Country of Particular Concern(CPC) list in December 2020 as a result. (Under President Biden, Nigeria was briefly removed from the CPC list, though a 2025 USCIRF report has urged reinstatement.) In short, Boko Haram and ISWAP remain an existential threat to Christian communities in the far north – destroying churches, schools and kidnapping civilians, even as Fulani militias outpace them in murder statistics.
The Fulani Militia and ‘Farmer-Herder’ Warfare
A second jihad has emerged across Nigeria’s Middle Belt. Militant Fulani herdsmen – often called “ethnic militia” or bandits – have been rampaging through Christian farming communities for years. These armed cattle herders, mostly Muslim, have killed whole villages, torched homes and farm crops, and then occupied the land. Investigative reports describe it as literal occupation: survivors report armed gunmen seizing villages, burning churches and granaries, and abducting villagers (especially women and children) en masse. The UN’s religious freedom commission noted that ISIS-inspired Fulani groups staged coordinated campaigns against Christians during Buhari’s presidency.
In quantitative terms, the data are staggering. Rights monitors reported at least 3,600 Nigerians killed in farmer-herder conflicts from 2016 to late 2018, outstripping Boko Haram’s toll by a factor of six in early 2018. Amnesty International found over 2,000 killed just in 2018. The International Crisis Group echoed this, noting militias had killed “six times more people than the war with Boko Haram” in the first half of 2018.
In short, by the end of Buhari’s first term, Fulani gunmen were slaughtering at least twice as many Nigerians per year as Boko Haram had. Human rights reports lamented that some state forces seemed unwilling to intervene. Taraba’s government complained that “herdsmen kill and maim at will”, armed with AK-47s, while locals with only machetes are disarmed by the military. (A local allegation: some Hausa-Fulani soldiers “look the other way” as Fulani fighters rampage, fuelling fears of collusion.)
The Middle Belt consists of Christian-majority villages in predominantly Muslim Northern Nigeria. It has become the new epicentre of extremist violence against Christians. Open Doors reported that under Buhari, “Islamist extremist groups like Fulani militants, Boko Haram and ISWAP committed significant violence. This situation has put Nigeria at the epicentre of targeted violence against the church.”
In practice, Fulani fighters have been identified as the main culprits. The House of Commons research briefing notes that the Fulani Ethnic Militia is blamed for many recent atrocities, “abducting, raping and killing people, destroying buildings and harvests or occupying farmlands” in Christian areas.
However, authorities often cast this as clan warfare or banditry, not religion. Reuters cautioned that much of the herder-farmer conflict is driven by resource competition: desertification forces herders south into farmland. Yet in Nigeria, ethnicity and faith often overlap. Military affairs analyst Prof. Francis Ujunwa Simeon bluntly labelled the Fulani herdsmen as a terror network. He accused Buhari’s government of a “conflict of interests” in failing to disarm them. He wrote that because the herders include powerful Fulanis (emirs, politicians, businessmen), “the government is dithering” on enforcement. He urged Buhari to “disarm, arrest, prosecute and punish” these “blood-thirsty herdsmen” as a deterrent. Such critiques resonate with many Nigerians, especially in attacked communities.
Affected States and Communities
The violence is endemic in Nigeria’s Middle Belt and North-West. Major hotspots include:
1. Benue State (Middle Belt) – often called the “breadbasket” of Nigeria, this largely Christian state has seen dozens of village raids. In June 2025 alone, a spate of Fulani attacks killed over 200 people in and around Benue’s Gwer West and Guma counties. Protesters in the Benue capital Makurdi, which hosts thousands of displaced villagers, have chanted “We are tired, please stop Benue killings!”.
2. Plateau State (Middle Belt) – another mixed community stronghold. In April 2022, Fulani gunmen assaulted more than a dozen villages in Kanam and Wase LGAs, killing at least 142 people and burning over 100 homes. Anglican Archbishop Benjamin Kwashi called this attack “the most horrendous…massacre” on a town where Christians and Muslims had coexisted.
3. Taraba State (North-East/Central) – two Christian villages (Munga Lelau and Magami) were overrun in May 2025. As reported by witnesses, gunmen “indiscriminately” slaughtered entire families, leaving more than 40 dead. “Our lives are shattered,” one survivor said. ICC News notes dozens remain missing after the onslaught.
4. Kaduna State (North-West) – particularly Southern Kaduna, a perennial flashpoint. Chronic skirmishes and large massacres (e.g. over 40 Christian villagers slaughtered in early 2020) have been reported. Local leaders now claim the government has effectively ceded large tracts of indigenous farmland to militant Fulani settlers.
5. Adamawa, Kaduna and Kaduna – Northern states with significant Christian populations. In April 2025, ISWAP’s raid on Adamawa’s Banga/Lareh area killed Christians and burned a church.
6. Niger and Zamfara States (North-West) – notorious bandit zones. Although often underreported, these also suffer “farmer-herder” ambushes; in May 2024 Al-Qaeda’s Ansaru kidnapped 160 children (mostly Christian) in Niger State.
7. Borno and Yobe States (Far North) – Boko Haram’s heartland. Christian communities here have been displaced en masse. (Recall the Chibok abduction of 2014; dozens of churches burned over the years.) The northeast remains lawless, with ISWAP staging regular raids into remote villages.
Mourning in Plateau State. Peaceful Christian villages (Jos area, Jan 2022) carry coffins of the slain. In Plateau, as CSW documented, dozens of villages were hit and at least 142 people killed in one week.
Notably, faith leaders and clergy are prime targets. Hundreds of churches have been torched – evidence of a campaign against the Christian religion. One attack in April 2022 razed eight churches and displaced 15,000 worshippers. In the south-central states, Catholic priests have been regularly kidnapped or killed, with victims from Enugu to Kaduna. (See inset above.) For example, on Sept 19, 2025, Father Mathew Eya of St. Charles in Enugu was intercepted by motorcycle-riding gunmen who shot out his tyres and shot him at point-blank range. A few days earlier another Catholic priest in Kogi State, Fr. Wilfred Ezeamba, had been kidnapped. “His abduction left us in fear,” parishioners said upon his release.
Such stories are common. Nigeria’s bishops report hundreds of clergy abducted or murdered in recent years, with many never found. The targeted killing of preachers is a chilling dimension: one NGO analyst said the kidnappings and slayings of priests are “not properly investigated” and accused jihadist herders of wanting to “wipe out” the Christian presence.
The Buhari Administration: Allegations of Complicity and Inaction
Under President Muhammadu Buhari (2015–2023), critics say the violence metastasised, and they accuse his government of negligence or worse. A pattern emerges in reports: the worst outbreaks have often coincided with Buhari’s tenure. Amnesty International noted that the deaths from herder attacks “fuelled a bloody escalation” under his watch, while UK parliamentary research concluded that violence by Fulani militias rose markedly during Buhari’s rule. Even U.S. officials noticed. Trump’s 2020 statement faulted Nigeria’s “inexcusable lack of action” on faith-based violence. More bluntly, church groups say state forces often “turn a blind eye”. A 2022 press release by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) condemned “the failures of security agencies at all levels” in protecting villagers.
Archbishop Okoh’s latest statement hints at deeper suspicions: he speaks of “continued pattern of violence” unchecked by authorities. Human-rights observers likewise criticize the state response. In October 2018, an Amnesty report lamented that even with suspect names, “little has been done…in terms of arrests and prosecutions” of the killers. Genocide-watch writers, reflecting Nigerian opinion, argue that Buhari’s Fulani background created a “conflict of interests”. They document cases where repentant Fulani militants were even granted amnesty and settled on seized farmland.
In Kaduna State, for instance, lawmakers have accused the governor. They say he secretly pardoned notorious Fulani bandit leaders in return for peace. At the same time, he has been confiscating Christian lands to give to Fulani settlers. Villagers say some local officials openly broker peace deals that hand thousands of hectares to migrant herders.
At the federal level, Buhari’s responses were often defensive. In 2018 he publicly blamed previous governments for failing to resolve communal clashes, even as bodies piled up in the streets of Benue. His spokesmen dismissed allegations that ethnicity played a role. Yet images from funerals in Benue showed mourners carrying coffins with banners reading “President act now: your people are killing us”. Opposition figures and Southern leaders repeatedly demanded action. A notable moment came when Bishop Matthew Kukah asked if Buhari’s own ties to the Fulani had made him reluctant to confront these militias.
In 2022, Nigerian bishops delivered a scathing letter warning that the slaughter of civilians undermined national security and urging Buhari to resign. (Notably, despite such appeals, Buhari never sanctioned a targeted crackdown. The Army occasionally drove herders out of one area only for them to resurge elsewhere.)
Consequently, Buhari’s critics charge that he effectively enabled the killers. Analysts emphasize that while Boko Haram remained active in the Northeast, it was the uncontrolled herdsmen war that ravaged the core Middle Belt under Buhari. Professor Simeon’s Genocide Watch op-ed argued bluntly: Buhari “must rise above ethnic interest” and immediately disarm the militias, warning that failure to do so would stain his legacy. To date, there is little evidence of such decisive action. Instead, government rhetoric often downplayed the religious dimension. Even Buhari’s spokesman implied that attacks were simply “communal clashes” predating his rule. Meanwhile, state governments sometimes pursued local peace pacts with Fulani, further angering displaced Christians who saw it as rewarding terrorism.
Global Outcry and the Tinubu Administration
When Bola Tinubu succeeded Buhari in May 2023, hope briefly flickered that the scale of killings might be acknowledged. But the onslaught continued unabated into 2024–25, prompting a new international outcry. In early 2024, the UK Parliament addressed Nigeria’s crisis. A Westminster Hall debate in January noted that 82% of the world’s reported faith-related murders occurred in Nigeria. There were 4,998 total murders in 2023. The British briefing cited NGO data showing 1,637 Christians murdered in just April–June 2023, and warned that displacing tens of thousands made parts of central Nigeria look like a “war zone”.
Across the Atlantic, U.S. pressure has ramped up. In March 2025 the U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom recommended that Nigeria be re-added to the CPC list. Within months, Republican senators led by Ted Budd publicly urged the State Department to again declare Nigeria a CPC, noting shocking events of 2024–25. They cited hundreds more Christian deaths (e.g. Ansaru kidnapping of 160 children in Niger State, 70 Christians slain in Benue) and reported that “at least 200 Christians” were killed in a single June 2025 Benue massacre. Their letter stresses that Nigeria alone accounted for 3,100 of 4,476 Christian fatalities globally in the period, a statistic mirrored in Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List report. All these players (governments and churches) are effectively calling for accountability in Abuja.
Inside Nigeria, Tinubu has had to respond to both domestic and external outrage. In June 2025, he personally flew to Benue State after weeks of bloodshed in the region. At a town-hall in Makurdi, he admitted the scale of the crisis. He promised to “find peace” and aimed to convert tragedy into prosperity. He set up an inter-agency committee to address Middle Belt violence. Yet relief has been slow. After the June Benue massacre, local people complained that security forces had arrived too late, prompting renewed protests (met with tear gas) by grieving villagers. Even the United Nations and UNHCR condemned the Benue attacks and called for thorough investigations. Nigerians on social media and in churches meanwhile called out foreign leaders: U.S. Senator Ted Cruz publicly clashed with Nigeria’s government over claims that some 50,000 Christians have been killed since 2009. The Pope and international figures have explicitly decried Nigeria’s carnage. In short, global scrutiny is fierce.
At home, CAN’s war with the Presidency continues. A recent statement by Archbishop Okoh directly criticized Tinubu’s spokesperson for echoing Buhari’s stance. The government spokesperson’s briefing, titled “Presidency Debunks Western Christian Genocide Narrative”, was received as a provocation. Okoh responded that CAN found it “disturbing” to hear such language, especially as “our people are daily being slaughtered”, and demanded the truth be told. CAN has reiterated its support for Senator Cruz’s comment labelling the killings as genocide. They pointed out that Trump himself once challenged Buhari to protect all Nigerians, and condemned the government’s refusal to face facts.
Victims’ Stories
Amid the statistics and statements, the human tragedy is immense. Christian families bury their dead almost weekly. In Plateau’s Jos city, coalitions of churches held mass funerals for victims of successive attacks in 2022. Mothers at one service wailed that their children had been cut down in the fields; an Anglican choir sang “We shall overcome” by coffin-lights. In Benue, distraught parents look for missing infants. In Taraba State, one man tearfully counted seven dead relatives among his mourners. A mother whose village was sacked by jihadists watched her only son’s body being carried off.
Survivors’ quotes abound: “It’s like waking to the end of the world,” said a displaced pastor in Nasarawa. “They came with guns, screaming Allahu akbar… my wife and I hid our children in the bush,” recalled one farmer from Adamawa after an April 2025 ISWAP raid. Catherine, a Taraba widow, asked, “Where will we rebuild? We have nothing left.” Many speak of constant fear: as Othman Umeagbalasi of Intersociety warns, “an average of 32 Christians [are] killed in Nigeria every day”. This translates to 7,000 believers massacred in the first 220 days of 2025. Christians displaced by terror see their communities shrink and villages fall, some occupied by Fulani settlers. One Taraba woman lamented: “They have planted their flag on our land. We can’t go home.”
Clergy under fire. In September 2025 Catholic priests Fr. Mathew Eya (left, later killed) and Fr. Wilfred Ezeamba (right, kidnapped) were targeted. Survivors say “his abduction left us in fear”, illustrating how even religious leaders are hunted.
Statistical Snapshot
- Christian fatalities (2015-2025):
- Open Doors/CSA reported 3,100 Christians killed in 2024 alone, making Nigeria the deadliest country for believers.
- Churches and NGOs estimate 30,000–45,000 Christians killed since 2009. CAN and allied bodies warn that over 7,000 more have already died in 2025 (first 7 months).
- By contrast, globally only about 800 believers were slain outside Nigeria in that same period.
- Abductions and displacement:
- Thousands of Christians have been kidnapped. Notably, Ansaru guerrillas abducted 160 schoolchildren(Christian majority) in 2024. The July 2023–June 2024 ransom data show 7,568 hostages taken nationwide (Nigerian terror groups fund-raised ~$30 million that year).
- UNHCR estimates hundreds of thousands of Nigerians (mostly Christians) in IDP camps inside Nigeria. Tens of thousands have been fleeing to neighbouring states since 2015.
- Areas affected (Middle Belt): Key states include Benue, Plateau, Taraba, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Niger, Adamawa, Katsina. Amnesty noted Benue as “under siege” by “terrorists” in mid-2025.
- International indices: Nigeria is ranked 6th in the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 for worst persecution of Christians; in fact 82% of all faith-related murders in 2023 happened in Nigeria. The UK’s international religious freedom report highlights Nigeria’s poor record as a signatory to UN conventions.
Comparative Context
Globally, Nigeria’s Christian death toll vastly exceeds warzones. The vast majority of Christian martyrdoms occur here – roughly 8 out of 10 worldwide. For comparison, in 2023 Syria and Iraq together saw fewer than 100 faith-related murders. Historically, nothing on this scale has been tolerated in a nominally secular democracy. Even during the Roman persecutions or Ottoman era, the numbers were far smaller compared to the population.
In modern terms, NGOs have applied the language of genocide. Egregiously, a scholar noted the speed and scale of wiping out entire villages. They drew parallels to earlier Christian-populated regions emptied by jihad.
Regional comparisons: in neighbouring Cameroon or Niger, militant attacks are brutal but significantly lower in absolute Christian casualties. In Nigeria, the casualty figures are in the tens of thousands. This dwarfs the violence in South Sudan, where a civil war kills hundreds. It also surpasses the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Christian victims are scattered among other ethnic/religious violence. This suggests a unique crisis. The U.S. State Department’s CPC designation (first applied by Trump in 2020) implicitly recognised this as more than routine crime. Indeed, in April 2021 U.S. officials even raised the issue directly: “We are deeply concerned by religious violence in Nigeria,” Secretary Pompeo said after Nigeria’s CPC listing.
Leadership’s Response
Under Tinubu, there have been some policy adjustments – on paper. In May 2024, his administration announced a new “Enhanced National Security Strategy” which includes “community policing” and reopened dialogue with Fulani leaders. But critics argue these are too little, too late. Security experts note that unless the strategy explicitly punishes mass murder, it will not deter jihadist herdsmen or Boko elements. In September 2025, the international spotlight forced Tinubu’s hand again: after US senators publicly demanded action, the government quietly reclassified herdsmen killings as terrorism on the CPC scale, without admitting any wrongdoing.
Domestically, Tinubu faces a dilemma. The Fulani Emirate establishment still wields influence, and military resources are stretched across multiple insurgencies (Boko in the northeast; separatists in the southeast; bandits in the northwest). At times, local governors’ peace deals have clashed with Abuja’s stance. For example, Kaduna State on May 28, 2024, agreed to a controversial amnesty for bandits – an agreement many saw as rewarding violence. Tinubu has not openly reversed such accords, choosing instead to emphasize security force buildup.
On the Christian side, yet, there is no patience. CAN and other church bodies are ramping up pressure. In October 2025, CAN announced plans to petition international courts. They also planned to demand emergency sessions at the UN Human Rights Council. British MPs and American legislators alike are now routinely citing Nigeria when discussing religious persecution worldwide. The religious freedom lobby is demanding tangible measures, not just words. They want more troops in the Middle Belt. They are calling for better border controls to block foreign jihadists. There must be accountability for those who sponsor terrorism.
Conclusion
After a decade of bloodletting, Nigeria’s Christian communities are still waiting for justice. Each week brings new reports of men, women and children butchered in their villages, and hardly a trial for anyone arrested. The recent CAN versus Presidency spat illustrates a profound struggle over reality: one side insists the term “genocide” describes a deliberate campaign; the other side begs us to see everything as random crime.
Our investigation finds ample evidence of coordination: villages hit in waves, homes looted and burned, survivors citing jihadist slogans, and foreign fighters from the Sahel allegedly joining the fray. If the Buhari years saw violent impunity (with governors making local peace deals and the army often overstretched), the Tinubu era thus far has shown continuity.
Western allies are watching closely, and Nigeria’s moral standing is tarnished. The grass-roots cry is clear: stop these massacres now. As Archbishop Okoh put it, “careless words can deepen the wounds”. The wounds run deep indeed. Hundreds of churches lie in ashes, thousands of graves dot green fields, and the Christian heart of Nigeria is bleeding.
For those who believe in justice, the mission now is to force the state to recognise the truth, however painful, and end the bloodshed that CAN and others insist is all too real.
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