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 organisations, 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.