UN rights experts on June 8 condemned [12] Nigerian authorities in response to ongoing reports that mass killings, kidnappings, forced conversion, sexual violence, and enforced disappearances are disproportionately targeting women and girls in Christian and minority religious communities.
In commenting on the sheer gravity of the crimes, the experts stated:
The deteriorating security situation in northern Nigeria and the Middle Belt has created an environment in which armed extremist groups, including Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province, and radicalised individual herdsmen involved in the "farmer-herder" conflict continue to operate with devastating consequences for civilians, amid persistent reports of impunity, institutional failures, and inadequate protection by authorities.
Religious persecution [13] in Nigeria against Christian and minority religious groups is a longstanding issue, with radical Islamic groups such as Boko Haram and various jihadist factions operating with the sole goal of eradicating the presence of these vulnerable groups and establishing strict Sharia law. Forced conversion [14] is one of the most commonly used tactic to exert control over these minority religious groups, with militants abducting schoolchildren from their educational institutions.
A high-profile example, which received international condemnation, was the 2014 Chibok [15] schoolgirls kidnapping, where 276 mostly Christian girls aged between 15 to 18 years old were kidnapped, forced to convert into Islam, subjected to sexual slavery, and forced to marry [16] Boko Haram fighters. Although a large number of the girls managed to be released, the fate of the remaining 82 young girls is uncertain [17]. Militant groups such as the Fulani group also systematically massacre members of the Christian community, such as in December 2023, when multiple villages were attacked, resulting in at least 160 deaths.
June 2022 saw a coordinated attack [18] on St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church during Sunday service that left over 50 people dead. In May 2022, Christian college student Deborah Yakubu [19] was lynched, stoned, and had her body burned by a mob. Her murder came after her classmates had accused her of making blasphemous sentiments in a WhatsApp group, and she was subsequently chased by a violent mob, an illustration of the deep ethnoreligious tensions [20] in the region.
The widely reported executions [21] of Christian students at Kaduna state's Greenfield University in April 2021 resulted in rights groups criticizing the Nigerian government for its lack of accountability in protecting civilians. Religiously targeted sexual exploitation [22], with young women and girls coerced into performing sexual acts [23] to access food, has also resulted in this culture of impunity.
From JURIST [24], June 8. Used with prtmission.
