Originally published in Persecution.Org

It seems the frequency of jihadist attacks in Nigeria is matched only by the infrequency of successful prosecutions against the perpetrators. And even when these attacks take place near military bases, the response times are disturbingly slow.

Many Nigerian Christians feel this chronic cycle of violence and impunity is all by design, and that their country has people in high places who have a vested interest in letting the cycle continue. 

Emeka Umeagbalasi, a criminologist who established the Nigerian human rights organisation Intersociety, did not hesitate to place blame. 

“The Nigerian security forces, especially the military and police crack squads (special operations units), are the greatest problem facing the country’s Christians,” he said.   

Umeagbalasi said that the last 10 years have seen a large rise in Islamic radicalisation within Nigeria’s military and “jihadists conscripted through the back door into the country’s security forces.” 

Other concerned Nigerians have spoken out about federal government efforts to “reintegrate” self-described “repentant” jihadists. There are concerns that these allegedly former jihadists are finding their way into the nation’s security agencies.  

Umeagbalasi said that such problems became widespread during the presidency of Muhammadu Buhari, who held Nigeria’s top office from May 29 2015, to May 29 2023.  

Buhari, the son of a Fulani chieftain, is a retired army major general who also served as head of state in the mid-1980s when Nigeria was under a military dictatorship. 

Umeagbalasi said that Buhari’s recent presidential tenure saw increased Fulani jihadist access to state armories. He added that many attackers in Nigeria derive significant benefits from “international jihadist support funds.” 

Since the 1980s, Fulanis who have obtained wealth in the cattle industry have been supplying their fellow tribesmen with numerous AK-47 assault rifles. 

Nigerian civilians are technically permitted to own certain types of firearms, but the requirements are stringent and subject to the discretion of officials.  

Umeagbalasi said the laws are “observed lopsidedly” in a way that discriminates against Christians and empowers their attackers. He added that the Nigerian military has raided Christian homes across much of the country and “seized most, if not all,” of their weapons, thereby depriving them of any real chance at self-defense.

Christians in Nigeria are almost always woefully outgunned by their attackers, wherever those attackers may come from.  

Although “Boko Haram” is a name that tends to evoke more terror, Fulani jihadists are responsible for most of the current religious violence.  

Umeagbalasi attributed at least 60% of the attacks on Nigerian Christians to either extremist Fulani herdsmen or jihadist Fulani bandits. He explained that Fulani jihadists will routinely decimate entire Christian communities and leave nearby Muslim communities unscathed. 

He added that not even 1% of Fulani jihadists have been arrested. And far fewer have ever been convicted.   

With virtually no deterrents, these jihadists partake in a buffet of criminality. They can loot and kidnap for profit. Or they can indulge themselves through sexual attacks. If feeling inclined to proselytize, they can undertake forcible conversions, beheading those who refuse. 

Umeagbalasi would like to see the US Department of State acknowledge Nigeria’s ongoing lethal jihadist Fulani problem by designating both “Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen” and “Jihadist Fulani Bandits” as Entities of Particular Concern. 

It’s worth mentioning that Nigeria — home to the majority of Christians killed for their faith each year worldwide — has had a curious relationship with the US State Department’s list of “Countries of Particular Concern” (CPC) for violating religious freedom.  

Nigeria made the CPC list for the first time at the end of 2020. The following year, it was removed from the list — even though the situation there did not improve. 

Those concerned with religious freedom in Nigeria were aghast when, in 2023, a State Department official said that: “after careful review, Nigeria would remain excluded from the list of religious freedom violators.”

As of May 31 2025, Nigeria has yet to reappear on the list, which was last updated at the end of 2023.  

Meanwhile, some prominent Christians in Nigeria have spoken publicly about how the ongoing massacres are not just about killing Christians but also about forcing the surviving Christians to flee their land forever.   

Wilfred Anagbe, the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi in Nigeria’s Middle Belt region, said: “The quest to Islamise the land is high on the agenda of some of the most powerful and influential Muslims in Nigeria.”    

Many Nigerian Christians suspect that the goal is to bring radical Islam to as much of Nigeria as possible, eventually taking over the oil-rich southern region, which is predominantly Christian. 

Recent years have even seen jihadists making headway in southern Nigeria. Regional authorities there have been rendered ineffective in addressing issues at the national level. 

And so, Nigeria’s Christians — who comprise almost half of the population — have a far more troubled situation than they do in most countries where Christians are only a tiny minority.  

Umeagbalasi described it as “a sorry state of utter vulnerability.” 

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