Nigeria is the country with the highest number of Christians killed in 2025: over 82% of the 4,476 killed worldwide because of their faith (as many as 3,100). Nigeria ranks seventh among the most violent countries in the world for Christians, according to Open Doors’ World Watch 2025. The country also has the highest number of Christians kidnapped for their faith: 2,830 out of a global total of 3,775, as well as the highest number of Christians who are victims of rape or sexual harassment for religious reasons. Priests and seminarians are at serious risk: the latest Catholic priest to be kidnapped on 17 November, according to the Fides news agency, is Father Bobbo Paschal, parish priest of St Stephen’s parish church in the local government area (LGA) of Kushe Gudgu Kagarko, in the north-central state of Kaduna. During the attack, the bandits also kidnapped other people and killed the brother of a priest. On the same day, at least 25 female students from the Maga Government Girls Secondary School in the Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area (LGA) of Kebbi State were abducted. In July 2025, a seminary was attacked, a security guard was killed and three young seminarians were kidnapped. According to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), religious freedom in Nigeria is threatened by “jihadist attacks, sectarian conflicts and poor protection from the state”. The Islamist groups Boko Haram and ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province) target both Muslims and Christians. In the North and Middle Belt, violence has increased, with churches burned and the faithful killed. Attacks by Fulani or Peul herders (some of whom are radicalized) have also caused thousands of casualties and the destruction of entire communities, targeting churches, villages and religious leaders, causing mass displacement, land expropriation and targeted persecution. The violence is therefore a mix of jihadism, economic interests (oil and gold mines) and banditry.
“The situation has worsened. Now, nobody wants to go to Nigeria. The government must take strong action to stop the violence. While it is true that it does not only affect Christians, it affects all Nigerians. However, those responsible for these attacks are almost always Muslim. There is also a high level of common crime that does not discriminate on the basis of religion. In any case, it doesn’t matter who is kidnapped or killed.
The violence must stop. Everyone’s safety should be the government’s primary concern”,
father Tobias Chikezie Ihejirika, a Nigerian Somascan priest and parish collaborator at a pastoral unit in Monte Sant’Angelo, in the province of Foggia, told SIR. Despite the dangers, the Somascan Fathers have two Italian and one Indian missionaries in Nigeria. Among the Italians is Father Luigi Brenna, 74, who in 2022 miraculously escaped a kidnapping attempt in Ogunwenyi, in Edo State, and wanted to return to his mission in Enugu, in south-eastern Nigeria. “There really is such a thing as ‘mal d’Africa’ (longing for Africa), and those who have been there want to return. We also have many Nigerian vocations. There is hope, but it is a hope that grows among thorns”, said the priest.
There is violence throughout Nigeria. Some states such as Kaduna and Kwara are particularly affected by violence, but now “there is violence throughout Nigeria”, Father Ihejirika remarked: “Yesterday I saw a video of some bandits who entered a church and killed many Christians”. Most priests and Protestant pastors are kidnapped for ransom, but “many are killed because they are ministers of worship”:
“It is a time of martyrdom, a testimony written in blood”.
Christians in Nigeria have not organized themselves into self-defense groups. Their only option is to flee and fill the many refugee camps in the area. Over the years, the capital Abuja has also suffered several attacks, including against the churches. The church bombing during Christmas Mass in 2011, which killed 39 people, is sadly notorious.
“Restore regional governments”. According to the Somascan priest, one of the biggest problems “is the impossibility of organizing the police on a territorial basis. The police remain centralized, and are commanded by the federal government. As long as this remains the case, it is impossible to truly address this emergency”. For example, many perpetrators of crimes “are not treated in a clear and transparent manner when arrested. Some are protected by figures within the government”. In his opinion, “Nigeria should be restructured. It would be necessary to
restore a true regional government and reduce the power of the federal government”,
because “it is too big a country. The people must be freed from a union that isn’t working”.
International pressure could also have a significant impact. Religion often becomes a pretext:
“behind it all are economic interests: the oil and the gold mines”.
He noted that, “when there are armed conflicts, there is always someone who profits from them. If international organizations traced the flow of money destined for conflict resolution and identified those who speculate on it, that would be a great help. These funds should be used to solve problems, not fuel violence”. For example, “one fundamental step would be for European countries to decide not to accept money of suspicious origin in their banks, repatriating stolen funds and punishing the individuals involved.
Otherwise, it becomes hypocrisy: accepting the money while claiming to be fighting violence”.
The Nigerian priest’s message to European countries is clear: “Stop maintaining hypocritical international relations and address the real problems. We need to follow the money, understand who the funds belong to and where they end up. We must repatriate the stolen money and sanction the individuals responsible, not the entire nation. Otherwise, it is the poor who suffer. There is also a lot of corruption. Those who become governors and suddenly become rich must explain where that money comes from”.
