Michael Olugbode in Abuja
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Nazila Ghanea, has raised fresh concerns over Nigeria’s worsening security crisis, saying repeated killings, mass displacements and the absence of justice have left many victims viewing their experiences as persecution and even genocide.
Presenting her preliminary observations at the end of an 11-day official visit to Nigeria, Ghanea painted a grim picture of communities trapped in endless cycles of violence, where villages are razed, livelihoods destroyed and survivors repeatedly displaced with little hope of justice or return.
She said while her mission focused on freedom of thought, conscience and religion, almost every engagement she held across the country was dominated by stories of insecurity, killings and fears over the inability of authorities to adequately protect lives and property.
According to her, the violence has evolved beyond isolated incidents to become a widespread national emergency affecting numerous parts of the country.
The UN envoy disclosed that communities described horrifying experiences, including mass arson attacks that forced survivors into internally displaced persons’ camps with no prospects of returning to their homes or farms.
She said in some rural communities, bandits had allegedly compelled residents into so-called peace agreements under which communities surrendered farmlands and produce and, in some instances, women were reportedly taken at will by the attackers.
Ghanea noted that impunity and a lack of accountability appeared to have entrenched the violence and encouraged its spread, with many communities repeatedly experiencing killings and destruction while perpetrators escape justice.
“When everything in one’s world has been reduced to dust, when religious leaders have been killed and places of worship destroyed and when one has seen no action or inadequate prevention and justice from the authorities, why would one think otherwise?” she asked.
The Special Rapporteur said some victims had been displaced multiple times over the past decade, forced to begin life afresh after each attack only to witness fresh killings and destruction.
She also drew attention to the increasing frequency of attacks on schools and the abduction of children, describing such incidents as grave violations of children’s rights.
According to her, hostage-taking has become pervasive, with priests, senior military officers, former politicians and members of their families among those kidnapped and, in some cases, killed despite the payment of huge ransoms.
The UN official said the scale of the violence and the apparent inability of the state to contain it had fuelled suspicions in some quarters of possible official complicity, further eroding public trust in government institutions.
She observed that authorities often acknowledged being overwhelmed by terrorism, banditry and organised criminal networks, some of which allegedly operate across Nigeria’s borders.
The security vacuum, she noted, has prompted the rise of vigilante groups, private security arrangements and community self-help initiatives as desperate citizens seek ways to protect themselves.
Beyond insecurity, Ghanea warned that Nigeria’s complex religious and ethnic diversities were often oversimplified into a narrative of a predominantly Muslim North and Christian South, a characterisation she said obscured the country’s rich pluralism and heightened religious polarisation.
She expressed concern over the continued requirement in many administrative processes for Nigerians to declare their religion, saying such practices reinforce religion as a dominant organising principle of society and make it vulnerable to manipulation for political and economic purposes.
The UN envoy also highlighted allegations of discrimination, with some groups reporting systematic marginalisation based on religious identity, while stressing that all Nigerians, irrespective of faith or belief, deserved equal protection and enjoyment of their rights.
Despite the daunting challenges, she commended the resilience of victims, the vibrancy of Nigeria’s civil society and the efforts of interfaith organisations and community peacebuilding initiatives.
She expressed confidence that Nigeria possesses the expertise and human resources necessary to safeguard freedom of religion or belief and address the drivers of insecurity, but warned that substantial work remains to be done.
Ghanea said her comprehensive report and recommendations on Nigeria would be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2027.
