The UN has been called upon to investigate allegations of a genocide targeting Nigerian Christians

Nigerian Christians genocide investigation by the United Nations

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief has received a memorandum claiming that the country’s growing violence against Christians and moderate Muslims constitutes genocide.

The submission calls on the UN to look into jihadist groups’ systematic, religiously motivated acts of violence in various parts of Nigeria. The Alliance Against Genocide and Genocide Watch prepared it, and it was sent to UN Special Rapporteur Nazila Ghanea.

According to the organizations, since 2001, militant organizations such as Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Fulani jihadist militias, and Lakurawa have killed over 60,000 people and driven over 2.2 million people from their homes. These groups have targeted churches, Christian villages, schools, and civilians in the country’s northern and Middle Belt regions.

The memorandum claims that attacks have increased in 2025 and 2026, indicating that the violence has escalated in recent years. It also accuses parts of the political and military establishment of complicity and claims that certain members of Nigeria’s security forces have failed to step in during attacks on Christian communities.

According to the report, there is “strong evidence that Fulani, Hausa, and other Muslim Generals in the Nigerian Army are purposefully preventing their troops from intervening to stop massacres of Christian villages until the killing is finished.”.

According to the memorandum, Fulani cattle owners who want more grazing land have provided financial support to certain jihadist organizations.

These owners include people who are allegedly connected to the military and political elite, such as Muhammadu Buhari, the president of the Fulani Cattlemen’s Association and former president of Nigeria. It claims that ransom kidnapping has grown to be a significant source of funding.

‘It claims that in 2024 alone, at least 580 civilians including women and children were kidnapped, and that some hostage camps continue to operate close to military installations without being dismantled’.

‘Attacks in the states of Benue, Plateau, Kaduna, and Kogi, where communities have endured frequent raids, murders, and widespread displacement, were of particular concern’.

According to the memorandum, by the middle of 2025, over 500,000 people in Benue State alone had been compelled to enter internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, many of which reportedly lacked adequate food, clean water, and medical care’.

‘It goes on to say that heavily armed militants frequently attack unarmed farmers and villagers. The memo mentioned the June 2025 attack on Yelwata, a predominantly Catholic village in Benue State, in which Fulani militants are said to have burned homes and killed between 100 and 200 people, including elderly and young children.

The memorandum further asserts that while some narratives depict Christian victims as outsiders, tribal groups, or participants in inevitable ethnic violence rather than communities under targeted persecution, critics of the Nigerian government are occasionally written off as politically motivated or anti-Islamic.

Despite growing evidence of mass killings, ethnic cleansing, forced displacement, and attacks on Christian populations, the organizations criticized parts of the international community, including the European Union, Amnesty International, and the Secretary General of the United Nations, for not officially recognizing the violence as genocide.

Testimony from Masara Kim and Mike Odeh James of Genocide Watch’s West Africa Team, who documented attacks on Christian communities, is included in the submission. Eyewitness accounts describe heavily armed militants storming villages, setting homes, farms, and crops on fire, and carrying out assaults while security forces are present.

Additionally, it claims that the Nigerian government has intimidated, detained, and threatened to kill journalists who are looking into such incidents. Mr. Kim is said to have survived armed attacks and was compelled to relocate for the safety of his family.

‘The UN Special Rapporteur is urged in the memorandum’s conclusion to refrain from diluting the findings regarding religious persecution in Nigeria. It also advocates for greater international involvement, which includes reforming Nigeria’s security apparatus and applying more pressure on armed extremist groups worldwide.

It said: “Jihadist terrorists are waging a bloody civil war in Nigeria against Christians and moderate Muslims. The Christian genocide is happening gradually. Helen Fein, a genocide expert, referred to it as “genocide by attrition.”.

‘Denying or sanitizing the facts of religious persecution and genocide in Nigeria cannot be justified by diplomatic politeness. Human rights organizations worldwide will anticipate an honest report that exposes the truth about it.