The silenced genocide: More than 30 Christians are killed every day in Nigeria before the resounding silence of the media, NGOs and international organizations

Christian communities in Nigeria are plagued by ethnic and religious violence, exacerbated by land conflicts between jihadists and mostly Christian farmers. These terror groups jointly operate under the leadership of Fulani herdsmen as well as the Alliance for Jihad in Nigeria formed in June 2020 in Niger State.

Last month alone, The Pontifical Foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) reported that at least 200 Christians were killed by armed extremists who attacked them during the night while they slept. Among the victims were children and babies.

According to the ACN statement, the deceased were displaced families fleeing religious persecution who were temporarily housed in the market square of Yelewata, in Guma local government area, near Makurdi.

2025: A bloody year for Nigeria's Christians

A recent report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety), asserts that 22 Islamic terrorist groups operate in Nigeria, which, in the first 220 days of 2025, have killed some 7,087 Christians, an average of more than 30 faithful a day, and kidnapped another 7,800.

Also, according to the Open Doors World Watch List 2025, "more than 380 million Christians are under threat worldwide," of which, according to Intersociety, "more than 100 million or 30% are threatened in Nigeria, where more than one is killed every hour."

It also estimates that some 35 Christians have been abducted daily, approximately two per hour, in the aforementioned 220 days of 2025.

More than a decade of silenced genocide

Intersociety revealed that since 2009, about 125,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria, 19,100 churches have been destroyed, more than 1,100 Christian communities have been looted and displaced, and 20,000 square miles of farmland have been confiscated.

Also, the report indicates that no less than 600 Christian clergy have been kidnapped in the last 16 years, including 250 Catholic priests and 350 pastors.

According to the data, the most affected states are Plateau, Benue, Niger, southern Kaduna, Abuja hinterland, Taraba, Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Nasarawa and Kogi; Edo, Delta, Imo, Enugu, Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Ondo, Oyo and Osun are experiencing an alarming increase in raids since mid-2023.

The complicity of the authorities and impunity reigns

Intersociety claims that these jihadist groups operate in "circumstances of impunity and conspiracy of the Nigerian security forces," unopposed and under the strong suspicion of protection and complicity of the state, "trying to destroy or annihilate some 112 million Christians and 13 million traditional religious across the country," with the idea of establishing a sultanate by 2075.

In addition, Christian leaders in southern Kaduna state also have also been facing an embargo or censorship by the government since the end of 2024, during which they became victims of attacks by the Fulani jihadist herdsmen from reporting to the media, human rights groups and others against the uncontrolled and unmonitored killings and abductions perpetrated by the Fulani jihadist bandits.

In this way, Nigeria has become the headquarters and safe haven of these 22 terrorist groups that maintain "links or possible links with the ISIS, the ISIL and the Global Jihad Fund."

Meanwhile, according to data handled by Intersociety, the past and present Central Government of Nigeria, which controls and manages the Armed Forces, police, Intelligence and paramilitary, have wasted some $20 billion on defense and security, since the Boko Haram Islamic uprising in July 2009.

Nigeria: "Country of particular concern"

The killing of Christians has also become a diplomatic focus. In 2020, the first Trump Administration designated Nigeria as a "country of special concern" for serious violations of religious freedom, a move that the Biden Administration reversed in 2021.

The Intersociety report urges the United States to reinstate that designation and to review the hundreds of millions of dollars directed to Nigeria in humanitarian, democratic, military and development aid, and to condition further aid on the ties to the country and its leaders, insisting that they must rise to the occasion by respecting and protecting the fundamental human rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

The report also urges Nigerian leaders to act decisively against Fulani jihadist herdsmen which includes "holding them accountable" for the massacre of an average of 6,000 Christians a year.