President Bola Tinubu and state governors have continued to tolerate “egregious violence” against Christian worshippers in Nigeria, says the 2024 annual report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

The latest report, which documents developments during 2023, stated that the Nigerian government at the federal and state levels often find it difficult to verify the perpetrators of the violent attack and the motivation behind the carnage against the Christian faithful.

“The government, at both the federal and state levels, continued to tolerate egregious criminal activity and violence by armed groups that targeted religious communities and negatively impacted religious freedom,” said USCIRF in its latest report released on Wednesday. “The specific perpetrators of and motivation behind individual attacks are often difficult to verify.”

The report listed Borno, Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Adamawa, and Benue as states where violence was most prevalent. For instance, the USCIRF fresh report stated that a report by a Nigerian non-governmental organisation, Intersociety, claimed that violent insurgent groups and armed gangs, along with Nigerian government forces, accounted for 8,222 Christian deaths across Nigeria in 2023.

It noted that in 2023, extremists in Benue state killed 414 people from predominantly Christian communities while injuring, raping, or kidnapping 100 more, while it also revealed that between May and June 2023, violent groups killed 450 Christians in three northeastern states.

The USCIRF publication said, “In June, violent actors in Plateau State reportedly killed at least 29 people, including several Christians, and later in the month killed 19 villagers, including Christians in Jos South and Mangu.

“In September, bandits in Kaduna State attempted to kidnap a priest and then set fire to his home, killing Catholic seminarian Na’aman Danlami. In November, gunmen reportedly killed one person and kidnapped at least 150 people in Zamfara State for ransom.

“In Plateau State, assailants attacked Christian villages, killing over 190 people the weekend before Christmas, including Baptist minister Solomon Gushe and his family. Intersociety claimed that the coordinated Christmas week massacre was so deadly because of collusion between armed groups and government.”

USCIRF also mentioned that in 2023, religious freedom conditions in Nigeria remained extremely poor as violence across Nigeria impacted freedom of religion, saying the government failed to prevent attacks against faith-based organisations or worshipers, with some accusing it of fomenting such attacks.

It also believed that the Nigerian government officials were often slow to react to information about possible attacks or to respond after attacks occurred, stressing that those impacted by violence directly criticised a lack of government accountability and called for further steps to protect religious freedom.

Both the police and army drew criticism for not stemming the activities of violent insurgent groups such as Boko Haram, Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP), and Fulani gangs that often worked in collaboration with the attackers, who often targeted religious leaders during the year under preview.