Christian Genocide in Nigeria: Narrating Truth Through Triangulation

Introduction: Naming the Crisis with Precision

In Nigeria’s volatile landscape, the term “Christian genocide” evokes both urgency and controversy. It demands careful framing, not as a rhetorical flourish, but as a narratable truth grounded in evidence. This article applies the principle of triangulation, cross-verifying data, methods, investigators, and theories, to illuminate the scale, complexity, and emotional resonance of violence against Christians in Nigeria. The goal is not to sensationalize, but to write a credible, communal understanding of a crisis that continues to unfold.

Data Triangulation: The Numbers Behind the Narrative

Multiple independent sources converge on a chilling reality:

• Intersociety Report (2025): 

For the avoidance of doubt, our latest situation report has statistically indicated that the attacks by Jihadist Fulani Militants (“Fulani Herdsmen”) across the country including killings, abductions, disappearances and destructions targeted at church and other Christian properties have reached an alarming stage under three weeks of Oct 28 to Nov 17, 2025; to the extent that within the period, the Jihadist Fulani Militants accounted for no fewer than 110 Christian deaths in Taraba (34 Christian deaths), Plateau (22), Kaduna (17), Benue (23), Borno (4) and Edo State where a Seminarian (Emmanuel Alabi) was killed in Jihadists’ captivity). There are also addition of 10 Christian deaths representing ‘dark figures’ of crime such as no fewer than ten Christians likely to have been killed in Jihadists’ captivity from no fewer than 125 abducted and held: totalling 110 Christian deaths under three weeks of Oct 28 to Nov 17, 2025. The killing of no fewer than 102 Christians under three weeks also represented daily average death of more than five Christians. No fewer than 135 defenceless Christians were found to have been abducted in the referenced period, representing daily average of more than six abducted Christians. Statistics at our disposal also indicated that no fewer than 61 Christians were abducted in Kaduna, 30 in Taraba, 10 in Kebbi, 6 in Plateau, 6 in Benue and 12 in Kogi/Kwara Christian axis, in addition to ten ‘dark figures’ of crime, totaling no fewer than 135 abducted Christians. It is our additional record that no fewer than six churches were attacked and sacked in Benue (two), Borno (one), Kaduna (one) and Taraba (two), during which four Christian clerics were killed including Kaduna (one), Benue (one), Edo (one) and Kwara (an ECWA pastor) and six Christian pastors abducted including Kogi (two) and Kaduna (4).

• Open Doors World Watch List

  
  

Nigeria’s spate of Christian persecution, with thousands of churches destroyed and clergy targeted.

December 2023: Horrific attacks on sleeping villages in Nigeria’s Plateau State starting on December 23 were mounted by more than 3,000 terrorists fanning out to 38 villages for simultaneous attacks or marching from village to village. Battalions of armed terrorists shouting “Allahu Akbar [God is great]” according to witnesses raided villages for eight days, killing at minimum 295 people, as documented by a local monitoring group known as Plateau Civil Society Organizations Forum.

• U.S. Congressional Hearings – 119^th Congress (2025-2026)

  
  

Nigeria described as “the deadliest place on Earth to be a Christian”.

All Information (Except Text) for H.Res.866 - Condemning the persecution of Christians in Nigeria and standing ready to support President Donald J. Trump in taking decisive action to end the existential threat that persecuted Christians face in Nigeria.

• Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (July 2025):

Between October 2019 and September 2024, ORFA documented 66,656 deaths across Nigeria, of these, 36,056 were civilians. The Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM) were responsible for a staggering 47% of all civilian killings —more than five times the combined death toll of Boko Haram and ISWAP, which together accounted for just 11% of civilian deaths. These figures represent more than statistical abstractions; they reflect a systematic campaign of violence that has fundamentally altered the demographic landscape of Nigeria’s Middle Belt. The data reveals that 2.4 Christians were killed for every Muslim during this period, with proportional losses to Christian communities reaching exceptional levels. In states where attacks occur, Christians were murdered at a rate 5.2 times higher than Muslims relative to their population size.

These figures are not isolated; they echo across regions and years, forming a pattern of targeted violence that demands recognition.

Methodological Triangulation: Beyond Statistics

To understand the human cost, we must blend methods:

• Quantitative: Incident logs, death tolls, assaults and abused and displaced figures.

  
  

Examples of violence in the reporting period.

WWL Year	Christians killed	Christians abducted	Christians raped and/or sexually assaulted	Christians physically or mentally abused
2025	3100	2830	1000*	10,000*
2024	4118	3300	1000*	10,000*

Source: Open Doors – World Watch List 2025 (Situation of religious freedom for Christians)

According to Open Doors:

This table includes only a few categories of faith-based violence during the reporting period - for full results see the violence section of the country’s corresponding WWL Persecution Dynamics. Since many incidents go unreported, the numbers must be understood as minimum figures. In cases where it has been impossible to count exactly, a symbolic round figure (10*, 100* or 1000*) is given which in reality could be significantly higher. The same applies for symbolic numbers 10,000*, 100,000* and 1,000,000*.

• Qualitative: Survivor testimonies, such as Rev. Micah Bulus, who refused to renounce Christ despite persecution.

  
  

The Reverend Micah Bulus, resident pastor at Kauna Baptist Church, described his experience and articulated his determination throughout the incident.  “I told my people even if they see my dead body, they should not deny Jesus and they should remain strong,” he said. He reaffirmed his faith despite the danger.

• Geospatial Mapping: Attacks concentrated in Plateau, Benue, Southern Kaduna, and Lafia regions with high Christian populations and strategic land value.

  
  

Fertile Farmland and Resource Competition

• The Middle Belt (Plateau, Benue, Southern Kaduna, Lafia/Nasarawa) is Nigeria’s agricultural heartland.

• Fulani herders, traditionally pastoralists, move cattle through these zones seeking water and pasture.

• Farming communities resist open grazing, leading to violent clashes when cattle destroy crops.

Strategic Geography

• Plateau and Benue sit at the crossroads of northern grazing routes and southern farmlands.

• Southern Kaduna and Lafia (Nasarawa State) are gateways linking the north to Abuja and central Nigeria.

• Control of these areas provides access to land, mobility corridors, and political leverage.

  
  

This layered approach reveals not just the scale but the emotional and geographic rhythm of persecution.

Investigator Triangulation: Who Interprets the Crisis?

Multiple voices interpret the same tragedy:

• Local Clergy: Bishop Wilfred Anagbe reports mass displacement and systematic targeting of Christian communities.

  
  

According to him, millions of displaced Nigerians remain trapped in camps, unable to return to their ancestral lands, a situation that threatens cultural continuity as well as religious and economic survival. He added that women suffer sexual violence used as a weapon, warning that such tactics are intended to ensure that no more Christians will be born from so many traumatised women. Anagbe reported several violent incidents, including a May 22 attack on his hometown that killed several relatives and displaced a convent of St. Clare's Sisters and the local Catholic parish. The bishop referenced further incidents occurring in Plateau, Benue, Kaduna, and Kogi States. He noted, among these events, the massacre in Yelwata, Benue State on June 13, where 278 individuals, men, women, and children, lost their lives…He stated that only after prayers from Pope Leo XIV did the Nigerian government recognize the crisis.

• International Analysts: Frans Vierhout calls the data “a story of ignored cries,” urging global attention.

Millions of people are left undefended,” Frans Vierhout, a senior analyst at The Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa… “For years, we’ve heard of calls for help being ignored, as terrorists attack vulnerable communities,” he added. “Now the data tells its own story.”

• The Vatican: Pope Leo IV acknowledges the slaughter of Christians and Muslims, calling for protection of all faiths.

  
  

“I think in Nigeria, in certain areas, there is certainly a danger for Christians, but for all people. Christians and Muslims have been slaughtered,” he said, addressing a question from EWTN News about the safety of Nigerian Christians on Nov. 18. “There’s a question of terrorism. There’s a question that has to do a lot with economics, if you will, and control of the lands that they have,” the pope continued. “Unfortunately, many Christians have died, and I think it’s very, it’s important to seek a way for the government, with all peoples, to promote authentic religious freedom.”

Each investigator brings a lens, local, global, theological, that enriches the narrative and guards against bias.

Theoretical Triangulation: Framing the Violence

To name the crisis responsibly, we must apply multiple theories:

• Religious Persecution Lens: Attacks on churches, clergy, and Christian schools suggest identity-based targeting.

• Conflict Theory: Land disputes, herder-farmer tensions, and economic control often mask religious motives.

• Political Theory: Impunity, weak state response, and international pressure (e.g. CPC designation by the U.S.) shape the conditions for violence.

  
  

Triangulating these theories helps us distinguish between religious violence as a symptom and religious identity as a target.

Conclusion

Triangulation shows Christians are disproportionately targeted, but violence in Nigeria also impacts Muslims and other groups. The term “genocide” here refers to intentional eradication, like patterns seen in Armenia, Rwanda, and the Holocaust. These systematic, identity-based killings require global attention.

Sources

“Choose One: Either Christian Genocide or Pogrom in Nigeria”, iPostThisWeek, 20 November 2025. https://www.ipostthisweek.com/2025/11/choose-one-either-christian-genocide-or.html

“Nigeria: No End In Sight In The Killing Of Christians As 110 Hacked To Death Under Three Weeks Of Oct 28 To Nov 17, 2025 By Jihadist Fulani Militants (Killed 106) And BH (Killed 4) In Kaduna, Plateau, Taraba, Benue, Edo And Borno-Abducted 135, Killed Four Clerics And Abducted Six Others And Attacked And Sacked Six Churches”, Intersociety, https://intersociety-ng.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nigeria-No-End-In-Sight-In-The-Killing-Of-Christians-As-110-Hacked-To-Death-Under-Three-Weeks-Of-Oct-28-To-Nov-17-2025-By-Jihadist-Fulani-Militants.pdf accessed 20/11/2025

“Nigeria: What does persecution look like in Nigeria”, Open Doors World Watch List, Download Summary Report. https://www.opendoors.org/en-US/persecution/countries/nigeria/ accessed 23/11/2025All Info - H.Res.860 - 119th Congress (2025-2026): Commending President Trump for Redesignating Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern due to Nigeria's engagement in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, and for other purposes. (2025, November 4). https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-resolution/860/all-info accessed 24/11/2025

“Gunmen abduct more than sixty villagers in northwestern Nigeria, pastor recounts ordeal”, Africa Scorecard, Chisom Mbam, 18/11/2025 https://www.theafricascorecard.com/2025/11/18/gunmen-abduct-more-than-sixty-villagers-in-northwestern-nigeria-pastor-recounts-ordeal/

“Christianity at Risk of Eradication, Bishop Anagbe Warns US Lawmakers of Systematic Attacks in Northern and Middle-Belt Nigeria”, BarristerNG.com, Admin Josh. 21/11/2025. https://barristerng.com/christianity-at-risk-of-eradication-bishop-anagbe-warns-us-lawmakers-of-systematic-attacks-in-northern-and-middle-belt-nigeria/

“How Fulani Militias Became Nigeria’s Deadliest Group While Escaping Global Notice”, ORFA Web Production 1, Steven Kefas, July 14, 2025. https://orfa.africa/how-fulani-militias-became-nigerias-deadliest-groupwhile-escaping-global-notice/

Pope Leo XIV on Nigeria: ‘Christians and Muslims have been slaughtered’, CAN, Hannah Brockhaus, 18 November 2025. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/267903/pope-leo-xiv-on-nigeria-christians-and-muslims-have-been-slaughtered

“Christian Genocide in Nigeria: Narrating Truth Through Triangulation”, AciaAfrica, Tyler Arnold. 03 September 2024. https://www.aciafrica.org/news/11923/ethnic-religious-violence-in-nigeria-has-claimed-nearly-56000-lives-2019-2023-report