At least 299 Christians were killed and more than 200 abducted across parts of Nigeria in July, according to a new report documenting a wave of attacks on predominantly Christian communities.
The report, by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), catalogues killings, kidnappings and displacement across Nigeria’s Middle Belt and other parts of the country during July and August.
It draws on Nigerian newspapers, international outlets, social media posts, church statements, and government/NGO sources.
Intersociety said its full-month tally for July found that “at least 299 defenceless and peaceful Christians were killed,” while at least 213 others were abducted.
The organisation attributed many of the attacks to armed Fulani groups, as well as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
According to the report, Benue recorded the highest number of Christian deaths during July, with 65, while Southern Kaduna recorded the largest number of abductions, at around 70.
Plateau State was also badly affected, with repeated attacks reported in Riyom, Barkin Ladi and other communities.
Among those killed were members of the extended family of Pastor Ezekiel Dachomo, a prominent cleric who has repeatedly spoken publicly about attacks on Christian villages in the state.
The report also revisits the June 22 attack in Kawel, Plateau State, in which around 30 Christians were reportedly killed.
The killings were subsequently referenced in a European Parliament resolution condemning violence and persecution against Christians in Nigeria.
Elsewhere, Intersociety documented attacks and kidnappings in Benue, Kaduna, Taraba, Adamawa, Niger, Kebbi, Edo, Kogi, Enugu and Imo states.
Several clergy and church members were among those affected. The report cites the abduction of NKST pastor Rev Samuel Gbinde, who later died from injuries reportedly sustained in captivity, as well as the kidnapping of a Catholic seminarian and the killing of a Catholic priest in Kogi State.
It also reported that 37 worshippers from Ariko in Southern Kaduna had been abducted since Easter, with six said to have died while being held.
The violence continued into August.
More than 30 people were reportedly killed during attacks in Jwak Maitumbi in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State between August 16 and 18.
Citing Barnabas Aid, the report quotes resident Lonji Zuhumnan as saying: “Apart from the people they slaughtered, the terrorists also burned down over 50 houses, shops, health centers, churches and food barns.”
In Benue State, more than 20 bodies were reportedly recovered following attacks in Ukum Local Government Area around the same period.
The report also raises concern over mass kidnappings along major roads.
It claims that about 92 predominantly Igbo Christian travellers were abducted in separate incidents on highways running through Kogi, Ondo and Benue states on August 9 and 13, with around 62 still unaccounted for when the report was published.
Another 15 members of Nigeria’s National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) were abducted in Kogi on August 26.
Intersociety highlighted conflicting statements from the police, military and state authorities over how many of the corps members had subsequently been rescued.
Church organisations have meanwhile reported much larger cumulative losses from years of violence.
The report cites the NKST Church as saying that nearly 6,000 of its members had been massacred and 753 churches ruined as a result of intensifying violence associated with herder-farmer conflicts and disputes over land.
In the Catholic Diocese of Wukari in Taraba State, more than 200 churches have been destroyed since September 2025 and around 100,000 parishioners displaced.
The death toll reported by the diocese was said to have risen from about 80 in April to more than 140 by early September.
Land and displacement feature prominently throughout the report, which claims that numerous communities in Plateau and Southern Kaduna have been abandoned following repeated attacks, with some residents unable to return to their farms and homes.
The organisation also criticised plans for a federal pilot ranching programme covering Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa, Kaduna, Adamawa and the Federal Capital Territory.
The Middle Belt Forum (MBF) has opposed the initiative, arguing that communities in the region have “been bled, displaced and dispossessed enough.”
The violence has also drawn growing international attention.
In the United States, the House of Representatives passed an appropriations measure that would make half of certain assistance to Nigeria conditional on the government demonstrating progress in protecting Christians.
US Congressman Riley Moore said: “Christians in Nigeria continue to endure horrific violence, murder, and persecution while a majority of the world turns a blind eye to their suffering. This bill sends a clear message that the United States will continue to stand with persecuted Christians across the globe, especially in Nigeria.”
In Europe, lawmakers have similarly raised concerns over attacks on Christian communities, including through the European Parliament resolution following the Plateau violence.
At the beginning of the summer, the UN was also urged to investigate claims that escalating violence against Christians and moderate Muslims in Nigeria amounted to a ‘genocide by attrition’, following a submission by Genocide Watch and the Alliance Against Genocide.
Nigeria’s Middle Belt has long experienced overlapping forms of insecurity involving armed groups, communal disputes, competition over land and resources, criminal kidnapping and religious tensions.
The latest findings build on an earlier Intersociety report, which claimed that 1,402 Christians were killed and 1,800 abducted in Nigeria between January 1 and April 6 this year.
Intersociety argues, however, that the scale and pattern of attacks documented in July and August demonstrate that Christian communities in several states continue to bear a disproportionate burden of the violence.
