Monday, June 22, 2026 - The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Nazila Ghanea, has raised concerns over the state of religious freedom in Nigeria, warning that widespread insecurity, violence and impunity are undermining the rights of citizens across the country.
Speaking in Abuja while presenting her preliminary findings
at the end of an 11-day official visit to Nigeria, Ghanea said discussions on
freedom of religion or belief were dominated by concerns about insecurity and
conflict affecting communities nationwide. The UN envoy, who visited Nigeria
from June 8 to June 19, met with government officials, security agencies,
judicial officers, religious leaders, civil society organizations, victims of
violence and members of the diplomatic community.
According to her, the scale and persistence of violence
across the country have generated widespread alarm and continue to threaten the
enjoyment of fundamental freedoms. “Discussion of freedom of religion or belief
in Nigeria elicits very acute concerns about insecurity, violence and conflict
which has spread throughout the country and has generated huge alarm,” she
said.
“These include terrorist actions, gang violence and banditry
incursions, land grabbing to mass displacement, armed conflict and cattle
rustling, hostage taking to arson attacks, destruction of holy places and
schools, large scale kidnappings in remote areas and civil unrest around
protests and strikes.”
Ghanea said a lack of accountability has fuelled recurring
cycles of violence, particularly in rural communities where victims repeatedly
suffer attacks without seeing justice served. She noted that some communities
reported being forced into so-called peace agreements with bandits, including
surrendering farmland and other resources in exchange for safety. She also
expressed concern over continued attacks on schools and the abduction of
children, describing them as serious violations of the rights of young
Nigerians.
“What remains uncontested is that, at the village and hamlet
levels in particular concentrations of the country, scores of innocent people
experience killings, mass violence and the total decimation of their
livelihoods, time and again, witnessing little or no justice,” she added.
The UN expert further warned against viewing Nigeria solely
through the lens of a Muslim north and Christian south, arguing that such
narratives oversimplify the country’s complex religious and cultural diversity.
She said the inclusion of religion on administrative forms continues to
reinforce faith as a dominant organising principle in society and creates
opportunities for political manipulation.
“The existence of the religion field in such forms
reinforces religion as a predominant organising principle of Nigerian society
which, in turn, makes it highly susceptible to religion being ‘played’ for
power, politics and wealth,” she said. Ghanea also raised concerns over
allegations of discrimination faced by religious minorities and non-religious
individuals, saying security challenges have often overshadowed discussions
around marginalisation and unequal treatment.
According to her, several stakeholders alleged the existence
of “systematic discrimination faced by Christians throughout the north” as well
as “a narrower bandwidth of rights for Muslims in the south”. She called for an
end to religious profiling and stressed the need to guarantee equal rights and
protections for all Nigerians regardless of their faith or beliefs.
The special rapporteur also questioned the compatibility of
blasphemy laws in some northern states with constitutional protections for
freedom of thought, conscience and religion. While some state authorities
defended the laws on cultural and moral grounds, others argued they conflict
with Section 10 of the Nigerian Constitution, which prohibits the adoption of a
state religion.
Ghanea referenced the April 2025 judgment of the ECOWAS
Court of Justice on Kano State’s blasphemy laws, noting that some officials had
challenged the binding nature of the ruling. She said a comprehensive report
containing her findings and recommendations would be submitted to the UN Human
Rights Council in March 2027.
Despite the challenges identified during her visit, Ghanea
praised the resilience of Nigerian civil society groups, victims of violence
and young people, expressing confidence that the country possesses the
expertise and human capital needed to strengthen freedom of religion and
belief.
There is no doubt that Nigeria has the expertise, experts
and committed, inspirational youth to secure freedom of thought, conscience and
religion for all on an equal basis,” she said. “There is also no doubt that
there is a long way to go until that is fully realised.”
Her visit comes months after US President Donald Trump
redesignated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) over allegations
of widespread persecution of Christians in parts of the country. Trump claimed
Christianity was facing an “existential threat” in Nigeria and accused radical
Islamist groups of carrying out mass killings, while warning that the United
States could take further action under the International Religious Freedom Act
The Nigerian government has rejected those claims,
maintaining that citizens of different faiths coexist peacefully and that the
country’s security challenges are driven by terrorism, banditry and other
criminal activities rather than religious persecution. The debate continues
amid worsening insecurity in several parts of Nigeria, where attacks on
schools, communities and civilians have persisted despite ongoing security
operations.
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