ABUJA / LAGOS — In a development that has stirred both diplomatic and domestic debate, the U.S. State Department under Marco Rubio has reportedly moved to place Nigeria back on a religious-freedom “watch list,” reversing a former policy decision during the previous administration. The shift reflects mounting pressure from U.S. lawmakers and advocacy groups regarding the rising incidence of violence against Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt and northern states.
Why Nigeria is Under Renewed Scrutiny
Reports collected by Nigerian and global advocacy groups show alarming numbers: in 2024, approximately 3,100 Christians were killed and 2,830 kidnapped in Nigeria, more than in any other country that year.
Over the past 14 years, at least 52,250 Christians have been killed in Nigeria by Islamist extremist and militia groups, according to the Nigerian-based research group International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (“Intersociety”).
Further, the group says more than 20,000 churches and Christian schools have been attacked during that period.
Analysts note that while violence has long afflicted northern Nigeria’s Christian minorities, in recent years the “Middle Belt” where largely Christian farming communities lie adjacent to Muslim-majority herder migrations has emerged as a major flas
point.
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