A group of United Nations human rights experts has voiced alarm over what it described as credible reports of killings, abductions, sexual violence, forced conversions, forced marriages and acts amounting to enforced disappearances targeting Christian and other religious minority communities in Nigeria, with women and girls bearing the brunt.
In a statement issued in Geneva, the experts said the reported violations were deeply troubling and pointed to a worsening security situation in the north and the Middle Belt, where armed extremist groups and other violent actors continue to operate with severe consequences for civilians. The experts are independent specialists appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor and report on specific issues. They are not UN staff and serve without salary in their personal capacities.
According to the group, organizations such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province, along with radicalized individuals tied to the farmer herder conflict, have exploited a climate of impunity, institutional failure and weak protection by authorities. The experts said testimonies from victims and survivors revealed fear, trauma, coercion and abandonment, and insisted that those affected must not be left without protection, justice and meaningful support.
In a communication to the Nigerian government, the experts highlighted several incidents, including the abduction and sexual assault of Christian women and the disappearance of girls taken from a church in Borno State. The statement was endorsed by Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls; Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Nicolas Levrat, Special Rapporteur on minority issues; Alice Jill Edwards, Special Rapporteur on torture; and members of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.
The experts also cited the forced conversion and child marriage of a 13 year old girl in Bauchi State and an attack on a 16 year old Christian girl whose hand was reportedly severed after her family rejected a forced marriage proposal by militants.
They said violence against Christians and other minorities remained widespread, pointing to the application of local interpretations of Sharia law across 12 northern states, the enforcement of blasphemy codes and the longstanding lack of effective access to justice. The group expressed particular concern about the heightened vulnerability of Christian women and girls, citing documented cases of sexual violence, abductions, forced conversion and child marriage.
The experts also referenced attacks on churches and villages, mass displacement, mob violence linked to blasphemy allegations and the dangers facing women and children in displacement camps. They noted that displaced minority women and girls remained especially exposed to sexual exploitation, including reports of coercion into sexual acts in exchange for food or basic necessities, and that some concealed their faith or wore hijabs as a survival strategy in areas controlled by armed groups.
The group warned that, if confirmed, the allegations could amount to serious violations of international human rights law, including the rights to life, safety, liberty, freedom of religion, and freedom from torture, enforced disappearance, slavery and trafficking. It urged Nigerian authorities to protect vulnerable communities, secure the release of abducted women and girls, ensure independent investigations, prosecute perpetrators and provide effective remedies for survivors, warning that impunity only fuels further violence.
