Nigeria’s Christians endure increase in killings, kidnappings

Last week, more than 5,000 people fled their homes in northeastern Nigeria for neighboring Cameroon after Boko Haram targeted the border town of Kirawa.

The Islamist insurgent group claimed responsibility for the Oct. 2 violence, releasing a video that showed jihadists burning the town’s military barracks as they chanted, “Victory belongs to God.”

This year, Nigerian Christians have faced increasing attacks from jihadist groups. According to the Nigeria-based nonprofit InterSociety, Islamists murdered more than 7,000 Christians—and kidnapped 7,800—in the country between January and August. This latest violence has refocused international attention on Nigeria over the ongoing attacks and persecution.

Kirawa district head Abdulrahman Abubakar joined other residents to flee last week’s attack. “Residents boarded trucks to seek refuge across the border, while others ran to Maiduguri,” the state capital, he told Reuters.

Boko Haram and other insurgent groups have staged attacks on communities in Borno state, the birthplace of Boko Haram, and overrun multiple military bases in the process. Last month, Boko Haram fighters killed more than 60 people in an overnight attack on the village of Darul Jamal.

While the jihadist groups target the northeast, armed bandits and Islamist Fulani herders have also hit other Nigerian states. On Sept. 28, a gang of bandits killed at least 15 people and kidnapped several others in an attack on a village in southwest Kwara state.

The suffering drew more global attention in recent weeks, after U.S. television host Bill Maher spoke about Nigeria on his HBO show Real Time With Bill Maher. “This is so much more of a genocide attempt than what’s going on in Gaza,” said Maher, who added that he’s not a Christian. “They are literally attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country. Where are the kids protesting this?”

His commentary triggered a barrage of posts about Nigeria on social media and also reignited political attention.

In Canada, Andrew Scheer, a Conservative Party member of the House of Commons, told other lawmakers last week that the international community has ignored Nigeria. “There are no daily updates,” he said. “Politicians around the world are not asked questions about how they will respond. We cannot ignore this violence and tragic loss of life.”

Last month, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025. The bill advocates for the secretary of state to designate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” for religious freedom violations, and it seeks to impose sanctions on Nigerian officials who enable jihadist violence or enforce blasphemy laws.

The bill comes as the Nigerian Supreme Court granted an appeal to Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, a Sufi Muslim minority member who is facing the death penalty for blasphemy allegations in northern Kano state.

Lamido Abba Sorondinki, the lawyer representing the state government, has said the state will publicly execute Sharif-Aminu if the court affirms the earlier ruling.

Sean Nelson, legal counsel for global religious freedom at Alliance Defending Freedom International, told me he hopes international attention on Sharif-Aminu’s case—and on the broader violence against Christians—will get the Nigerian government’s attention.

“There’s not enough [effort] to prevent these attacks,” Nelson said. “There’s not enough to arrest and find the terrorists and the militants who are doing that. So I’m really happy to see that pressure, and I hope that pressure continues.”