NIGERIA
Legal framework on freedom of religion and actual application
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa with more than 227 million inhabitants, one of the largest continental economies, and a leading oil producer.[1] With a parliamentary democratic system of government, the country is organised as a federal republic with 36 States and a Federal Capital Territory in Abuja.
The 1999 constitution[2] prevents the government of the Federation, or of a State, from adopting any religion as the State religion (Article 10) and proposes religious tolerance as part of the national ethics (Article 23). It prohibits discrimination on religious grounds (Articles 15.2 and 42.1) and obliges political parties to open their membership to any Nigerian citizen irrespective of religion (Article 222.b) and not to have any name, symbol, or logo with religious connotations (Article 222.e).
The constitution also guarantees the right of every person to “freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance” (Article 38.1). Article 38.2 provides that no one attending a place of education may be compelled to participate in religious instruction if it does not relate to their faith or is not approved by their parent or guardian. This guarantee also extends to religious ceremonies and observances. Under Article 38.3, no religious community or denomination may be prevented from providing religious instruction for pupils of that community or denomination in any place of education maintained wholly by that community or denomination. These rights do not entitle any person “to form, take part in the activity or be a member of a secret society”. (Article 38.4)
To promote national integration, Article 15 (3, c and d) of the constitution imposes a duty on the State to encourage inter-religious marriages and to promote the establishment of associations that cut across religious lines. To reduce tensions, some States (Kano, Borno, Niger, Katsina and Kaduna) have adopted legislation requiring preachers to obtain a licence to preach.[3] In Nigeria, religion is regarded as very important in the lives of the vast majority of the population.[4]
The current Nigerian President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and his wife, Oluremi Tinubu, are an example of a couple who are in an interreligious marriage. The couple has been married since 1987. He is a Muslim, and his wife is an ordained pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.[5]
Nigeria has a mixed legal system comprising English law, common law, customary law, and, in several states, Islamic law (Shari‘a).[6] Where in the northern states, the constitution recognizes the Penal Code rooted in Islamic law (particularly the Maliki School), in the south the Criminal Code is applied based on Australia’s Queensland Criminal Code of 1899, introduced by British colonial authorities.[7] [8] This dual-code system — Criminal Code in the south and Penal Code in the north — continues to shape Nigeria’s legal landscape today.
Under Article 275.1 of the constitution, states are entitled to empanel a Shari‘a Court of Appeal. Article 260.1 of the constitution provides for a Shari‘a Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja. When 12 northern States officially introduced Islamic law in 1999 and 2000, many Muslims reacted enthusiastically while Christians opposed the decision. Subsequent riots claimed several thousand lives, including both Christians and Muslims.[9] “Most Muslims in northern Nigeria,” stated the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan Kukah, “have continued to re-echo sentiments of the old caliphate (1804-1903), which views Christianity as a foreign religion that is tied to colonialism.”[10]
In February 2024, a constitutional review committee was set up with members from the 36 States. The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, constituted the 45-member committee chaired by the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin.[11] The House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review issued a Call for Memoranda, inviting Nigerians to submit proposals for further amendments to the 1999 Constitution on topics including “the Nigeria Police and Nigerian security architecture, public revenue, fiscal federation and revenue allocation, judicial reforms, electoral reforms, traditional institutions, gender related issues, process of State creation, State access to mining, among others”.[12]
In October 2024, the House of Representatives rejected a bill that sought to expand Islamic law in the 1999 constitution. The constitutional amendment introduced by Aliyu Misau, who represents the Misau/Dambam Federal Constituency of Bauchi State, sought to amend sections 24, 262, 277 and 288 of the 1999 constitution by removing the word “personal” wherever the phrase “Islamic law” was mentioned. The bill’s proponents argued that the word “personal” restricted the application of the constitution when it came to commercial and international law. Opponents of the bill said that the word “personal” was placed in the constitution for a reason, and that religion should be restricted to personal preference because Nigeria is a secular State.[13]
In October 2024, the head of the Health Promotion Department of the Federal Ministry for Health began to review sections of the country’s Criminal Code to increase access to “safe termination of pregnancies”. On 25 October 2024, the Secretary General of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) issued a statement saying that this development “substantiated fears already created by the government’s various preceding moves to enshrine postmodern secularistic ideologies that significantly undermine the cultural, moral, and religious beliefs of Nigerian citizens”. The secretariat added that the move seriously threatened the “value and dignity of the human person” and contravened “the provisions of the constitutions, which prescribe absolute protection and respect of human life and its inherent dignity”.[14]
In December 2024, a viral post on “X” (formerly Twitter) suggested that a Shari‘a court was to be inaugurated in Oyo town, in the southwest of the country, in January 2025. The statement caused heated discussions in the country. Following the debate, the group behind the initiative clarified that intention had only been to set up a Shari‘a panel for Muslims who wanted arbitration, not a court. The inauguration of the panel was indefinitely postponed.[15]
Some 25 years after the implementation of Shari‘a, the situation in northern Nigeria has become worse as ethnicity and religion have effectively become means to obtain power, resources and privileges.[16] In most of the northern states, blasphemy laws are contained in both the Shari‘a and state penal codes.
The imposition of Shari‘a sentences inflicts cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment such as amputations and beatings[17], and sometimes culminates in death[18], which conflicts with the international obligations of the country.[19] In addition, the hisbah (religious police) impose moral and social restrictions, for example, seizing and destroying bottles of beer;[20] locking down shisha bars; raiding hotels; banning stylish haircuts; banning eating in public during Ramadan[21] (even in areas controlled by non-Muslims); breaking up “immoral gatherings”, and arresting people that do not follow Shari‘a.[22] In Kano, Zamfara, Yobe and Sokoto States, hisbah are legally established[23] disregarding the explicit prohibition of Article 214.1 of the Nigerian constitution, which states that “no other police force [other than the Nigerian Police Force] shall be established for the Federation or any part thereof”.[24]
Christians in the north speak of a deeply rooted discrimination including: political exclusion and fewer job opportunities; Christian men are not allowed to marry Muslim women; Christian education is not permitted in public schools and the hijab, a head covering worn by Muslim women, must be worn by all female students; Christian students have no access to State scholarships and graduates are discriminated against in the labour market; Christian Churches are not allowed to buy land and building permits for some churches are denied and; Christian women and girls face risks of abduction, forced marriage and forced conversion.[25]
By contrast, in southwest Nigeria, where a significant percentage of Muslims live among a majority Christian population, no significant incident of religiously motivated violence has occurred, and interreligious relations are generally respectful.[26]
A longstanding concern among the Christian community in Nigeria is why, despite being a constitutionally secular State with a Christian population of approximately 50 percent, in 1986 the country became a full member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) under President Ibrahim Babangida. The OIC’s stated objectives include preserving “Islamic symbols and common heritage,” defending “the universality of the Islamic religion,” and “revitalising Islam’s pioneering role in the world”.[27] In 2022, a controversial decision was taken by the federal government under the presidency of Muhammadu Buhari to strengthen relationships with Iran.[28]
Incidents and developments
During the two-year reporting period, Nigeria has witnessed a severe and escalating wave of violence, largely driven by extremist Islamist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Although exact figures are difficult to assess, Christians have been the target of extrajudicial killings and abductions by insurgent groups and criminal gangs.
Although religious affiliation plays a key role in the ongoing violence in Nigeria, conflict is also attributed to a number of social factors including but not limited to poverty, preexisting ethnic and intercommunal violence, bloodshed between predominantly Fulani herders and non-Fulani farmers over land and water disputes, illiteracy, youth unemployment, institutional weakness and governance inaction.
It is also important to note that, although Christians suffer the brunt of extremist violence, the fact that the terrorist groups operate in states with a predominantly Muslim population means that the violence has not only affected Christians, but also Muslims.
Due to the overwhelming amount of religious freedom violations between January 2023 to December 2024, this section provides only a selection of incidents and developments related to religious freedom in Nigeria that occurred during the reporting period.
Over this period, the news cycle in Nigeria has been dominated by brutal and violent attacks by extremist militants, mostly in the north-east, north central and Middle Belt parts of the country perpetrated mainly by Islamist terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
In January 2023, Boko Haram abducted eight farmers and killed one person in Makilwe village, Borno State.[29]
On 25 February 2023, Nigerians went to the polls to vote for a new president and representatives in the two houses of the Federal Parliament. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu won a contested election with a voter turnout of 25.7 percent.[30] The European Union mission declared that a lack of transparency and the delays in disclosing election results eroded voter confidence. The day of the election saw several thefts and “violations of established protocols,” which “severely damaged public trust.”[31]
On 29 May and 23 June 2023, at least 1,100 Christians — including 20 pastors and priests — were killed as Fulani militants and other groups carried out coordinated attacks in Plateau State.[32]
On 10 August 2023, Fulani militants massacred 21 people, including entire families, in Batin and Rayogot in Heipang district of Plateau State. The attack took place during a night raid while Nigerian soldiers stationed nearby failed to intervene despite prior warnings, prompting accusations of military complicity.[33]
On 12 September 2023, Fulani herdsmen and “other terrorists” killed ten Christians in Kulben village, Plateau State.[34]
In October 2023, Boko Haram extremists shot dead 17 people in Yobe State and then used a land mine to kill 20 more who had gone to attend the burial. The authorities present at the scene could not provide exact details of the death toll.[35]
Between the 21 and 30 October 2023, 12 people were killed and 13 women raped in Gwer West County in Benue State. The Foundation for Justice, Development and Peace, a Catholic Mission in Makurdi, the State capital, said that at least 153 people were killed by militants in Benue State between 4 May and 18 October 2023. Fr Cletus Bua, a priest in charge of the St Francis Xavier parish in Agagbe, stated “the Fulani have taken over eight council wards in Gwer West.” He further declared that the terrorists sometimes raped women and let them go, “but in most cases, they rape them and kill them”.[36]
In October 2023, an attack took place in Abuja, the country’s capital city, where two police officers were killed following an attack by the proscribed Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), which has strong ties to Iran. In a counter statement, a Shi‘a sheikh, Sidi Sokoto, said that the police disrupted the Arba‘een Symbolic Trek, a Shi‘a religious event, killing and injuring several mourners.[37]
Over eight days, beginning on 23 December 2023, in a coordinated campaign, hundreds of terrorists, including mercenaries from Niger, Chad and Cameroon and Fulani militants, attacked predominantly Christian villages in Plateau State, killing at least 295 civilians, including Christians.[38] Amnesty International’s Nigeria office said that it confirmed 140 deaths in the Christian-majority Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi areas of Plateau State on Christmas Eve of 2023.[39] In a statement on 8 February 2025, the European Parliament stated that it “strongly condemns the acts of violence over Christmas targeting Christians and other communities, which resulted in an unprecedented number of deaths, injuries and displacements, and expresses its solidarity with those affected”.[40]
The start of 2024 witnessed a continued spate of attacks on Christian villages, with hundreds displaced in the Bungha districts, and many villages such as Washna, Kombili and Changal subsequently occupied by Fulani settlers engaged in farming and mining.[41]
In March 2024, Boko Haram terrorists abducted dozens of displaced people, mostly women, who lived in a camp in Gamboru Ngala town after they fled from their villages due to attacks by insurgents. Estimates of the number abducted range from 113 to over 200.[42]
In October 2024, the Nigerian navy captured 13 Fulani militants who were terrorising and killing people in Nasarawa State. According to the naval officers, the latest attacks marked the fifth time Fulani ethnic militias invaded the community within four months.[43]
In November 2024, Bishop Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe of the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi called for action after escalating violence in Benue State led to the closure of 15 parishes in his diocese. Anagbe said that parishes in Otukpo Diocese and Katsina-Ala Diocese were also shutting down due to the increasing number of killings and kidnappings in the regions.[44]
In December 2024, a wave of violent attacks targeted Christian communities in the Middle Belt of Nigeria, particularly during the Christmas period, leaving dozens of people dead. According to reports received by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) from local Church sources, the most severe incident occurred on Christmas Day in Anwase, Benue State, where at least 47 people, including children, were killed, and all eight Catholic outstations (chapels) of St Mary’s Parish, as well as clinics, schools and homes, were destroyed by fire. The parish priest and his assistant survived by hiding in the bush for an entire day before being rescued. Similar attacks were also reported in the Diocese of Makurdi (Benue State) and Plateau State. Despite repeated appeals from the Catholic Church, the Nigerian government has yet to provide adequate security or effectively curb the persistent terrorist and intercommunal violence affecting the country.[45]
In Nigeria, Fulani interests are represented by two main organisations: Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association and Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore. Run by elites within the Fulani cattle sector, the two groups have faced accusations of enabling or justifying violence, though they publicly deny involvement in any criminal activity.[46] Observers of the repeated assaults in Nigeria’s Middle Belt maintain that Fulani militants do not attack villagers to graze their cattle, but rather, to take possession of the land and drive out Christians from their ancestral homes.[47] Some analysts maintain that the Fulani militia operate with the support of, or stem from,[48] jihadist groups like Boko Haram and ISWAP, and Mali’s al-Qaeda-linked Macina Liberation Front. Fighters from Mali and other neighbouring countries enter through Nigeria’s porous borders with the help of sympathetic regional networks.[49]
During the reporting period, suspected Fulani militants targeted a school for the first time, marking a concerning escalation in violence against Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt. On 7 May 2024, armed men attacked the Father Angus Frazer Memorial High School in Makurdi State. The assault occurred at night while students were sleeping in the dormitories. Thanks to the swift intervention of school staff, all students were safely evacuated. This unprecedented assault on an educational institution has heightened fears that schools could become new targets amid the ongoing violence against Christian communities.[50]
The attack on the Father Angus Frazer Memorial High School occurred just weeks after the tenth anniversary of the abduction of 276 students, mostly Christian girls, from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, by Boko Haram. More than a decade later, over 90 of the Chibok girls remain missing. A recent UNICEF report highlights a worrying increase in such incidents: in the past ten years, 1,680 children have been kidnapped from schools, while 180 students and 14 staff members have been killed in attacks targeting schools across Nigeria.[51]
Nigeria has multiple security challenges that have affected the peace and stability of the country and destabilised large sections of the north. The long-standing Islamist insurgency led by the terrorist group, Boko Haram, continues to displace thousands of people in the northeast. Rival jihadist groups descended from Boko Haram fight to control the area around Borno State on the borders with Cameroon, Chad and Niger.[52]
According to the 2025 Global Terrorism Index, while terrorist attacks in Nigeria decreased by 37 percent in 2024, deaths from terrorism rose by six per cent to 565 —the highest figure since 2020. This increase — which excludes attacks perpetrated by Fulani militants, as they are not classified as acts of terrorism — is largely attributed to the ongoing conflict between ISWAP and Boko Haram, which together accounted for nearly 60 percent of all terrorism-related fatalities.[53] Civilians were the most affected, representing 62 percent of deaths, a sharp rise from 21 percent in 2023. Notably, Boko Haram surpassed ISWAP as Nigeria’s deadliest terrorist group for the first time since 2019, recording 175 deaths in 2024 — a rise of 18 percent — despite carrying out fewer attacks than the previous year.[54]
On 28 June 2022, Irish President Michael D. Higgins deplored a massacre declaring “that such an attack was made in a place of worship is a source of particular condemnation, as is any attempt to scapegoat pastoral peoples who are among the foremost victims of the consequences of climate change.”[55] The climate change theory — that militant attacks on Christians are primarily due to the global warming impact driving populations into conflict over water and grazing pastures — have been refuted in part by the local Church. In an interview with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Father Remigius Ihyula, head of the Foundation for Justice, Development and Peace under the Diocese of Makurdi (Benue State), rejected the narrow climate change explanation for the ongoing violence. He contended that environmental challenges alone do not account for the killings, noting that similar conditions elsewhere have not triggered comparable conflict. According to Father Ihyula, the attacks are part of a strategy by terrorist groups, who exploit herdsmen as instruments to forcibly displace local populations.[56]
Violence in Nigeria has also been fuelled by accusations of blasphemy. In June 2023, Usman Buda, a butcher attached to Sokoto abattoir in northern Nigeria, was killed by his fellow butchers for allegedly blasphemous statements about the Prophet Mohammed. A father of six, Buda was stoned to death after saying that he agreed with the ideas of Sheikh Abdul Azeez, a prominent Muslim scholar from Bauchi State. Amnesty International concluded that the argument leading to the butcher’s death had been orchestrated to settle grudges about sales at the market. It condemned the murder and blamed the Nigerian government for creating “a permissive environment for brutality”. The United States urged Nigeria to repeal its blasphemy laws.[57]
In addition, there are numerous cases of women being accused and killed for participating in witchcraft. On 18 June 2023, Martina Okey Itagbor was suspected of killing two young men who died in a motorbike accident. She was blamed of engineering the accident by using witchcraft. A mob interrogated her, stoned her, and then burned her alive by the road.[58]
Mubarak Bala, an ex-Muslim and atheist, was sentenced by a court in the northern city of Kano in February 2022 after pleading guilty to charges of blasphemy. In January 2025, Mr Bala was freed after serving four years in prison.[59]
In February 2025, a Hamas delegation visited Nigeria. A televised interview with Ghazi Hamad, a senior leader of Hamas, on Nigerian TV elicited negative reactions from Nigerians and the international community. In his interview, Ghazi Hamad justified the 7 October attacks on Israel as a retaliation for Israel’s actions towards Palestinians in Gaza.[60]
On 13 June 2025, armed militants carried out a large-scale massacre of approximately 200 Christians in Benue State. The victims, previously displaced by earlier attacks, were in temporary accommodation in the market square in Yelawata, near Makurdi, when the assailants — reportedly shouting “Allahu Akhbar” — opened fire indiscriminately after setting fire to the doors of the displaced people’s accommodation. According to witnesses, police prevented the attackers from storming the St Joseph’s Church, where about 700 displaced individuals had taken refuge. The militants then targeted the market area, opening fire in an area where more than 500 people had been asleep.[61]
Catholic priests and religious in northern Nigeria are also being specifically targeted for kidnapping and assault. Fr Thomas Oyode, in Edo state in southern Nigeria, was kidnapped in October 2024 and released after 11 days of captivity. Fr Emmanuel Azubuike was kidnapped on 5 November 2024 in Imo State, and Fr Christian Uchegbu was kidnapped the following day while returning from Port Harcourt in the Niger Delta area.[62] Overall, a total of 25 priests and seminarians were kidnapped in Nigeria in 2023, and 12 priests and religious were kidnapped in 2024, all of whom were eventually released. A further three priests were kidnapped in previous years and remain missing, with no confirmation of their release or death. These include Fathers John Bako Shekwolo (2019), Joseph Igweagu (2022), and Christopher Ogide (2022).[63] The situation further deteriorated in 2025, with 12 clergy kidnapped in the first quarter of the year alone. Among them, Fr Sylvester Okechukwu and seminarian Andrew Peter were murdered by their captors. While some attacks against clergy are motivated by anti-Christian sentiment, many abductions are carried out by criminal groups operating within Nigeria’s widespread ransom industry. In such cases, religious figures are often targeted not specifically for their faith, but because they are seen as vulnerable and financially profitable victims.[64]
In more encouraging news, in August 2023, a court in northern Nigeria issued an order protecting an 18-year-old Muslim girl who had become a Christian. Her family had threatened to kill her for abandoning Islam.[65]
Journalists continue to face threats and violence in Nigeria. The Media Rights Agenda (MRA), an organisation that documents violence against journalists in the country, noted that security forces pose a grave threat to press freedom. Between 1 January and 31 October 2024, security forces, including the police, military, and intelligence, accounted for 45 of the 69 attacks on journalists. The reports document various types of attacks, including abductions, detentions, and even assault and battery.[66] On 15 March 2024, Segun Olatuji, the editor of First News newspaper, was arrested by the Defence Intelligence Agency. He was later released.[67]
Prospects for freedom of religion
During the reporting period, innumerable attacks in Nigeria were documented in which the victims’ religious affiliation played a contributing or decisive role. Religious identity, particularly Christian identity in the northern states, matters intensely because it renders Christians (and moderate Muslims) particularly vulnerable to violence, persecution, and displacement. Terror groups attack all communities, yet experts maintain that disproportionately more Christians are attacked than Muslims because of their religious identity.[68] Furthermore, Christians who escape and arrive at Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps face unwarranted neglect, discrimination and persecution by camp officials and leaders due to their Christian faith. For example, the “white paper cards,” which enable viable humanitarian assistance, were deliberately withheld by officials in Borno State. In some instances, cards meant for Christians were given to Muslims instead.[69]
Nigerian Christians in the Middle Belt are bearing the brunt of violent attacks. In this Christian-majority area, Christians have been subjected to killings, sexual violence, and abductions by armed groups often identified as Fulani militants. Christian ancestral lands have been stolen and destroyed by extremist herders, leaving millions of people homeless, jobless, and living in IDP camps with no access to healthcare or schools. The number and ferocity of the attacks on Christian villages have led some experts to conclude that these incursions are a deliberate land grab to remove Christians and Islamise the region.[70]
Religious freedom in Nigeria is under grave threat, principally due to legal measures that support discrimination against Christians in the northern states, as well as severe and relentless atrocities committed throughout the country. It is therefore deeply discouraging to note that prospects for religious freedom in Africa’s most populous nation remain extremely grim.
Sources
Nigeria