Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has painted a grim picture of Nigeria's security situation, stating in its newly released 2026 Annual Report that "rampant insecurity and violence have created a pervasive atmosphere of fear," with abductions, killings and attacks on civilians now defining daily life across much of the country. The report, published on May 28, 2026, describes Nigeria as being in a "terrifying crisis," citing years of unchecked violence, mass killings and a government failure to adequately protect citizens from attacks by armed groups, bandits and extremists.
According to the commission, more than 53,000 civilians have been killed in violence linked to religious and communal conflicts since 2009, while millions have been displaced from their homes. The report further accused Nigerian authorities of failing to effectively respond to the crisis, stating that "years of inadequate response and pervasive corruption" have worsened insecurity across the country. USCIRF highlighted repeated attacks on religious communities, schools and villages, saying Christians and Muslims alike now face what it described as an "existential struggle" in parts of Nigeria.
The commission referenced worsening attacks on places of worship, targeted killings of clerics and mass kidnappings of schoolchildren, specifically citing one of the country's largest school abductions in which gunmen kidnapped 303 pupils and 12 teachers from a school in Kaduna State. The report also renewed international concern over the continued captivity of Leah Sharibu, the Christian schoolgirl abducted by terrorists who has remained in captivity for years after reportedly refusing to renounce her faith. USCIRF further warned that blasphemy-related violence remains a serious concern, citing incidents where individuals accused of insulting religion were attacked or killed by mobs.
The report's findings are based on a separate May 2026 USCIRF document titled "Nonstate Violators of Religious Freedom in Nigeria: Fulani Militants," which identified armed Fulani militant groups as major contributors to insecurity and religious violence across parts of Nigeria. That document estimated that about 30,000 armed Fulani militants are operating in groups ranging from 10 to 1,000 fighters across the country, with attacks linked to the militants accounting for the highest number of deaths among religious communities in Nigeria within the last year, surpassing casualties attributed to organised insurgent groups and criminal gangs.
The commission noted that while many attacks targeted Christian communities, Muslim communities also suffered raids, killings and abductions. The militants often attacked vulnerable rural communities at night, using motorcycles, automatic weapons and machetes to instill fear and force residents off their lands, displacing at least 1.3 million people across the Middle Belt. The report highlighted several major attacks recorded in 2025 and early 2026, including a June 2025 attack in Benue State where more than 200 people sheltering in a Catholic mission were reportedly killed, and the Yelwata massacre where over 200 Christians, mostly women and children, were allegedly killed. It also documented February 2026 attacks in Niger and Kaduna states, including the killing of 32 persons in Niger State and an attack on Holy Trinity Parish in Kafanchan Diocese that left three persons dead and 11 others abducted, including the parish priest. The report equally documented attacks on Muslim worshippers, noting that in February 2026, armed men kidnapped an imam and seven worshippers from a mosque in Plateau State and demanded a ransom of N16 million.
USCIRF warned that extremist violence in Nigeria now threatens broader regional stability across West Africa and the Sahel. The report comes amid renewed pressure from members of the U.S. Congress for Nigeria to remain designated as a "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC) over severe violations of religious freedom. Lawmakers have introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act, which seeks to compel the U.S. government to impose sanctions and other punitive measures in response to religious freedom abuses in Nigeria. The report also disclosed that the U.S. government has introduced a visa restriction policy targeting individuals involved in religious freedom violations in Nigeria and other parts of the world.
USCIRF concluded that unless urgent measures are taken, violence and insecurity in Nigeria could continue to deteriorate, leaving vulnerable communities increasingly exposed to attacks, displacement and humanitarian crises. "Nigeria is facing a terrifying crisis of religious violence," the report reads in part. "According to recent estimates, targeted violence has claimed the lives of nearly 53,000 Nigerian civilians since 2009 – the same year the USCIRF first recommended Nigeria's designation as a CPC – including around 21,000 in the last five years alone. The unfolding catastrophe is the outcome of a lethal confluence of trends: religiously motivated extremist violence; economic and ethnic tensions, long left to fester; corrosive, state-level blasphemy laws; and years of both inadequate response and pervasive corruption".
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