No Evidence of State-Sponsored Christian Persecution in Nigeria — UN Expert

UN Special Rapporteur Nazila Ghanea

No Evidence of State-Sponsored Christian Persecution in Nigeria — UN Expert

UN Special Rapporteur Nazila Ghanea says victims ‘understandably’ describe violence as persecution due to government’s failure to provide protection and justice

Nazila Ghanea, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, has concluded that there is no evidence of direct government-sponsored religious persecution in Nigeria following a 12-day fact-finding mission across the country. Speaking at the National Human Rights Commission in Abuja, Ghanea stated unequivocally that she did not observe “a direct government instruction… with an intentionality of destroying one religious community or another.” However, she warned that inadequate government response to security concerns, combined with a pervasive culture of impunity, is causing victims to view their experiences as persecution or genocide. During her visit from June 8 to 19, 2026, Ghanea and her team interviewed more than 200 stakeholders, including government officials, religious leaders, civil society groups, lawyers, academics, and victims of violence in Abuja, Kano, and Jos, and she found that virtually every discussion was dominated by concerns over security rather than formal religious discrimination.

The central theme of Ghanea’s preliminary findings was the devastating impact of impunity and lack of accountability, which she said has entrenched cycles of fear and violence and encouraged its spread, as many affected communities complained of inadequate protection by security agencies and the absence of justice after attacks, leading to declining public confidence in government institutions. “When, as a result of these crises, time and again, justice is not seen to be done, understandably, the victim starts to describe this as persecution, or genocide,” Ghanea explained, adding that when everything in one’s world has been reduced to dust, when religious leaders have been killed and places of worship destroyed, and when one has seen no action or inadequate prevention and justice from the authorities, then why would one think otherwise. The UN expert described a grim reality across Nigeria’s North-west and North-central regions, where communities are trapped in endless cycles of violence, detailing horrifying experiences reported to her team including mass arson attacks, mass displacement, kidnappings, destruction of places of worship and schools, and the total decimation of livelihoods, with some communities having been displaced multiple times over the past decade, forced to begin life afresh after each attack only to witness fresh killings and destruction.

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Ghanea noted that issues relating to religious freedom and tolerance were “overshadowed by the security concerns,” and “almost every interlocutor responded by talking about religious crisis and insecurity — and they frontloaded that.” While acknowledging that Christians have been singled out by jihadist groups, Ghanea stressed that Muslims are also constantly targeted and that conflicts often fall across religious lines while being driven by complex factors including land disputes, economic competition, climate pressures, and criminality, warning against simplistic characterisations of Nigeria as a “Muslim North” and “Christian South,” describing such narratives as reductive and polarising of the country’s rich pluralism. She also raised concerns about the growing reliance on vigilante groups and community self-help security arrangements, warning that the proliferation of armed groups could worsen insecurity rather than reduce it.

The UN Special Rapporteur acknowledged that Nigeria’s Constitution guarantees fundamental rights including freedom of thought, conscience and religion; freedom of expression; non-discrimination; and the rights to life and dignity, however, she drew attention to tensions arising at the state level within plural legal systems governing personal status matters, blasphemy, hate speech, and criminal punishments — laws introduced in northern states in the early 2000s. Ghanea also expressed concern over the continued requirement for citizens to disclose their religious affiliation in several official processes, including job applications, pension documentation, school admissions, and recruitment into the police and military, warning that such practices reinforce religious identity as a dominant organising principle of society and may encourage discrimination, though she welcomed reports that religion has been removed from applications for Nigerian passports and National Identification Numbers, describing the move as a positive development.

Ghanea’s visit came against the backdrop of politically charged accusations over Christian “persecution” that strained diplomatic ties last year, as the United States, under President Donald Trump, elevated such claims to the highest levels of government, with Trump at one point condemning what he called a Christian “genocide” in the country, though Washington and Abuja have since found common ground, launching a joint military campaign against jihadists. When asked about Trump’s genocide claims, Ghanea said she had spoken to “senior legal experts” who said: “‘I cannot say that genocide is not happening anywhere in Nigeria,'” however, she stressed that her own findings did not reveal a government policy of destruction against any religious community.

Despite the daunting challenges, Ghanea expressed measured optimism about Nigeria’s capacity to chart a better course, stating that there is no doubt that Nigeria has the expertise and experts as well as inspirational, committed youth to secure freedom of thought, conscience and religion for all on an equal basis, while also acknowledging that there is a long way to go until that is fully realised. She commended the resilience of victims, the vibrancy of Nigeria’s civil society, and the efforts of interfaith organisations and community peacebuilding initiatives working to promote peace and tolerance across the country. The Special Rapporteur is expected to present a comprehensive report with full findings and recommendations to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in March 2027, which will assess Nigeria’s compliance with international human rights standards and propose measures to guarantee religious freedom for all citizens on an equal basis.