Overview
- President Donald Trump has relisted Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern and directed defense officials to prepare for potential military action over what he calls mass killings of Christians.
- Activists and some faith-based groups describe the violence as a genocide against Christians, citing casualty totals as high as 100,000 to 150,000, figures that analysts say are inflated or unverified.
- Conflict databases report lower, mixed-victim tallies, with ACLED recording 52,915 civilian deaths from political violence since 2009 and the Council on Foreign Relations tracking more than 100,000 total deaths since 2011 including security forces.
- Experts say attacks span insurgency in the northeast and largely criminal raids and kidnappings in the northwest and central regions, with motivations often unrelated to religion and with both Christians and Muslims targeted.
- Nigeria’s government rejects claims of state-backed religious persecution, as fresh incidents such as Monday’s abduction of 25 schoolgirls in Kebbi and reports of mass killings in June highlight weak law enforcement and overstretched security forces.