Religious violence in Nigeria

Uncommon card · No. 139872

Religious violence in Nigeria refers to Christian–Muslim strife in Nigeria tracing back to 1953. The present religious violence in Nigeria is dominated by the Boko Haram insurgency, which aims to establish an Islamic state in northern Nigeria. University of Johannesburg law professor Werner Nicolaas Nel has noted that this has resulted in the persecution of Christians in Nigeria. Organisations that monitor political violence in Nigeria have reported that the majority of victims of jihadist groups are Muslim. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) reported that, as of 2025, just under 53,000 Muslims and Christians had been killed in targeted political violence since 2009. According to ACLED's 2022 report, although Christians constitute roughly 50% of the population, violence explicitly targeting Christians on the basis of religion accounted for 5% of reported civilian-targeting events. This includes murder, as well as the abduction of Roman Catholic and Methodist clergy...

Read on Wikipedia · Image CC BY-SA 3.0