Christian persecution in Nigeria escalates: 1,200 churches destroyed yearly, hundreds killed, 15M displaced. Clergy targeted by jihadists, criminals.
Newsroom (29/09/2025, Gaudium Press ) Father Matthew Eya, a Catholic priest, was gunned down on September 19 while traveling on the Ehalumona-Nsukka road in Enugu state. According to witnesses cited by Fides, the attack was not a botched kidnapping but a deliberate assassination. Armed assailants on motorcycles shot out the tires of Eya’s vehicle, forcing him to stop, before firing multiple rounds at close range. The killing underscores a growing wave of violence targeting Christian clergy in Nigeria, particularly in the country’s volatile eastern regions.
Escalating Violence Against Clergy
The murder of Father Eya is part of a broader pattern of attacks on Christian religious leaders. A report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), updated this week, reveals that at least 15 Catholic priests were kidnapped between January and September 2025. Since 2015, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) reports 145 priests kidnapped, 11 murdered, and four still missing. Intersociety’s estimates are even grimmer, documenting at least 250 Catholic clergy and 350 additional clergy from other Christian denominations attacked over the same period.
The violence, driven by a mix of jihadist extremism and organized crime, has turned Nigeria’s religious leaders into prime targets. “Many were kidnapped for ransoms reaching tens of millions of nairas or thousands of dollars,” the Intersociety report states. “Others had luxury vehicles stolen for sale to criminal networks.” A recent case involved Father Wilfred Ezemba, kidnapped on September 12 in Kogi state alongside other travelers and released four days later, reportedly after a ransom was paid.
A Devastated Christian Infrastructure
The destruction of Christian institutions is equally alarming. Since the Boko Haram uprising in 2009, Intersociety estimates that 19,100 churches have been destroyed, looted, or forcibly closed—an average of 1,200 per year, or more than three per day. Catholic parishes, “white-garment” churches of the Organization of African Instituted Churches, and other Christian denominations have all been targeted, particularly in regions like Taraba, Borno, Kaduna, and Enugu, where jihadist groups such as Boko Haram, ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province), and Fulani militias operate alongside criminal gangs.
Mass Displacement and Forced Conversion
The relentless violence has triggered a humanitarian crisis. Nearly 15 million Nigerians, predominantly Christians, have been displaced, fleeing villages and ancestral homes to escape massacres. In eastern Nigeria, systematic abductions of Christian children have been reported, with victims sent to Islamic orphanages in the north for forced conversion. Catholic schools and communities are among the hardest hit.
In Kaduna state, jihadist camps like those in Rijana hold at least 850 Christians in brutal conditions, with many tortured or killed if ransoms go unpaid. Recent cases include nuns released after payments and priests kidnapped or murdered in Enugu and Kogi states this month.
Alleged Complicity of Security Forces
Intersociety’s report also points to disturbing allegations of complicity by Nigerian security forces. Special units of the army and police, along with their commanders, are accused of involvement in kidnappings, murders, and forced disappearances of Christian pastors, particularly in the southeast. These actions are often framed as counterinsurgency operations targeting groups advocating for the secession of Biafra, a region that fought a failed war for independence from 1967 to 1970. The most affected areas include Imo, Rivers, and Enugu states, where operations began in 2020 and 2021.
A Call for Action
The scale of violence—against clergy, churches, and Christian communities—has raised urgent calls for international attention. With jihadist groups and criminal networks exploiting Nigeria’s security vacuum, and allegations of state complicity deepening the crisis, advocates warn that the persecution of Christians risks destabilizing the region further. For now, Nigeria’s faithful endure a grim reality: a church destroyed every eight hours, and a clergy member attacked with chilling frequency.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from ACI Africa
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