Over 7,000 Christians Massacred in Nigeria by Jihadists in Seven Months: Report

According to the report, the spike in the “brutal and unchecked massacre of defenseless Christians” in Nigeria was fueled by increasing number of Jihadist Islamic terror groups who have been making unchecked incursions into Nigeria from 2017 to date.

According to Intersociety, Jihadist terror groups in Nigeria are jointly operating under the leaderships of Jihadist Fulani herdsmen known for wreaking havoc against predominantly Christian farming communities in the country, as well as the “Alliance for Jihad in Nigeria” formed since June 2020 in Niger State.

Out of the 7,087 Christians massacred in the first 220 days of 2025, Benue State was the worst hit with more than 1,100 deaths including the Yelewata massacre of June 13-14, that led to death of 280 Christians. Benue State also suffered the April Sankera massacre, during which more than 72 defenseless Christians were hacked to death.

Plateau State comes second in the Intersociety report with an estimated 806 deaths including more than 300 defenseless Christians massacred in April alone.

Southern Kaduna is also top on the list with estimated 620 Christian deaths including dozens abducted and killed in captivity and over 40 confirmed killed in Kauru part of Southern Kaduna as well as hundreds of others killed in the past 220 days of 2025. 

Intersociety laments that on top of the massacres, Christian leaders in Southern Kaduna State have been facing government censorship since late 2024.

“Victims of Jihadist Fulani herdsmen attacks were banned from reporting to the media, human rights groups and others against unchecked and untracked killings and abductions perpetrated by Jihadist Fulani herdsmen and Jihadist Fulani bandits,” the human rights research group says, adding that the State also recorded the second largest number of abductions after Niger State, with an estimated 800 people kidnapped.

Nigeria’s Igbo Land South-East comes fourth in the report, with an estimated 615 Christian deaths fueled by an upsurge in jihadists’ attacks and abductions.

Other zones severely hit by high defenseless Christians’ death tolls in the hands of the country’s islamist terror jihadist groups are South-West with estimated 610 Christian deaths including killings recorded in Ondo as well as an upsurge in killing and abduction of indigenous and non-indigenous commuters and inter-state travelers using Benin-Ore and Ore-Sagamu Highway, Lagos-Ibadan Highway and Lagos-Abuja Highway, and many other roads in the region.

Niger State has also been identified in the Intersociety report as one of the worst hit States with estimated 605 Christian deaths-where Christian populated Local Government Areas of Paikoro, Shiroro, Munya, Rafi, Kontagora and Suleja hinterland have been “uprooted and almost overrun and wiped out”.

In Niger State, Intersociety reports of “incessant abductions, killings, torture, disappearances, forced marriage, sexual harassment including child defilement, population displacement, forced migration and forced Islamic conversions.”

“The State also recorded the highest number of anti-Christian abductions and killings in Northern Nigeria and presently serves as headquarters of the country’s Alliance for Islamic Jihad in Nigeria,” reads the Intersociety report. 

There were also 550 deaths in Nigeria’s Kogi State, Edo with 505 deaths, Borno State which recorded estimated 420 Christian deaths. Taraba State accounted for estimated 320 Christian deaths.

Delta State, Intersociety says, has also become “a flashpoint” for attacks by Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen against indigenous Christian farmers and non-indigenous travelers using the State’s major Highways.

The State, according to the report, has recorded no fewer than 216 Christian deaths, followed by Katsina with 200 Christian deaths, Cross River State withn60 Christians deaths and Bauchi with 50 Christian deaths.

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Intersociety says that it collected the data from the affected communities and other sources including local and international media, human rights groups, and research organizations, religious and socio-cultural groups.

The Nigerian Military also accounted for no fewer than 410 Christian deaths, mostly in the South-East following indiscriminate abductions, killings and disappearances using false labeling, mass criminalization and ethno-religious profiling of Southeasterners since the beginning of January.  

The number of Christian abductees across the country was found to have swollen by an upsurge in the abduction of Southeasterners, Nigeria’s most traveled population and a handful of other non-Southeasterners.

In terms of kidnappings, Niger State is the worst hit in the Intersociety report with estimated 1000 abductions since the beginning of January, followed by Southern Kaduna with estimated 800 abductions.

Other Nigerian that witnessed over 500 abductions each include Plateau, Kogi, Borno, Benue and Katsina.

There were hundreds of other abductions also witnessed in other states across Nigeria, as highlighted by the Intersociety report.

In the report, Umeagbalasi claims that Nigeria has provided a safe haven to some 22 islamist terror groups in Africa who he says are “seeking to obliterate Christianity and indigenous cultural heritage and impose sultanate in Nigeria by 2075.”

According to the Intersociety official, the designation of Nigeria as “a Country of Particular Concern and Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen and Jihadist Fulani Bandits as Entities OF Particular Concern “, particularly by the United States, and similar punitive measures by EU, UK and Canadian leaders “is not only belated and long overdue”, but should go an extra mile.

He says, the forces, some in key religious positions who are backing the Fulani militias “must be banned from traveling to Religious Freedom respecter countries including US, Canada, UK, France, Germany and other members of the European Union.”