The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has accused the Nigerian federal and state governments of tolerating religious violence and failing to adequately investigate or prosecute perpetrators responsible for attacks across the country.

In its 2026 annual report, the commission said religious freedom conditions in Nigeria “remained abysmal” throughout 2025, alleging that authorities “continued to tolerate, inadequately respond to or investigate, or otherwise fail to pursue justice for religious violence by non-state actors.”

The report stated that several armed groups continued to target communities while attempting to impose “a singular interpretation of Islam on individuals and communities in their areas of operation, regardless of these individuals’ or communities’ own religion or belief.”

According to USCIRF, the groups included “Jama’tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS, also known as Boko Haram), Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), and Islamic State-Sahel Province (ISSP).”

The commission listed multiple violent incidents recorded during the year. It noted that in January, “JAS assailants burned down a church auditorium, killing several people,” while Mahmuda, described as “a new faction of JAS,” allegedly “killed four Fulanis in April in Kwara.”

The report further stated that “in July, Lakurawa insurgents affiliated with ISSP killed 15 Muslims in Sokoto,” while “in September, JAS/Boko Haram killed more than 60 Muslims in Borno.”

According to the commission, the capture of Kirawa in Borno by Boko Haram insurgents in October forced “5,000 people fleeing to Cameroon.”

USCIRF also alleged that “Fulani militants who manipulated Islam to justify their use of violence” frequently attacked religious communities during the year, particularly in Nigeria’s Middle Belt region.

It said the violence “especially impacted Christians,” citing the June attack in Yelwata where “Fulani gunmen killed around 200 displaced persons at a Catholic mission.”

The report added that “some protesters accused the government of failing to protect the victims” following the massacre.

The commission also referenced the killing of Reverend Yahaya Kambasaya and the abduction of “20 other Christians in Kaduna in October,” as well as another incident in which “attackers abducted 38 worshippers from a church service the following month, killing two and kidnapping the pastor.”

USCIRF further noted that more than 300 persons, “primarily schoolchildren,” were abducted from a Catholic boarding school in Niger State.

According to the report, parents criticized the government “for shutting down schools rather than securing them.”

The commission described the kidnappings as part of a prolonged crisis that has “traumatized religious communities in Nigeria since 2009,” alleging that kidnappers had seized “thousands of children for ransom or sexual slavery.”

It specifically mentioned Christian schoolgirl Leah Sharibu, stating that she “has been in captivity since 2018.”

The report also documented attacks against Muslim communities, saying that “attackers abducted over 100 individuals, mostly women and children, from a mosque in Zamfara,” while “13 worshipers” were reportedly killed at a mosque in Katsina.

USCIRF additionally criticized Nigeria’s blasphemy laws, stating that the federal government “continued to enforce blasphemy laws that include a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment for acts ‘persons consider as a public insult on their religion.’”

It said some state governments enforced stricter versions of the laws to “prosecute and imprison individuals perceived to have insulted religion, including Christians, Muslims, and humanists.”

The commission noted that “at least four prisoners remained in state custody on blasphemy charges at the end of the year,” including Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, Isma’ila Sani Isah, Sheikh Abduljabar Nasiru Kabara, and Abdulazeez Inyass.

The report also referenced the closure of schools during Ramadan in Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, and Bauchi states, noting that the action affected “Christian institutions.”

USCIRF further disclosed that Roman Catholic Bishop Wilfred Anagbe “received anonymous threats after testifying before the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee in March on the violence against Christians.”

Earlier, SaharaReporters reported that a report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) noted that militant violence in Nigeria’s Middle Belt had driven at least 1.3 million people from their land into displacement camps, warning of widespread insecurity, abductions, and targeted attacks on religious communities.

The report, issued in its May 2026 mini report, described a pattern of attacks attributed to Fulani militants and other armed actors, noting that such violence is often used to instill fear and force communities to abandon their homes. It stated that “night, eliciting terror as a way to force victims to quickly leave and to achieve greater control of desired land.”

“These Fulani militant attacks, among those of other actors, have forced at least 1.3 million people in the Middle Belt off their land and into overcrowded, unsanitary, and unsafe conditions in displacement camps,” the commission said.

The report further alleged that militants employ varied levels of deadly force against religious communities, adding that “many carry out sexual assault and abductions in hopes of intimidating them or profiting from ransom payments, respectively.”

“Reportedly, some hostages remain hidden in remote locations such as the Rijana Forest in Kaduna State,” it noted, warning that “many of these hostages have faced violent sexual assault, causing lifelong trauma.”