Human rights watchdogs are urging the United Nations to investigate what they describe as a systematic genocide against Christians in Nigeria, citing extensive evidence of killings by jihadist groups and alleged complicity by Nigerian...



Two human rights watchdogs are calling on the United Nations to address what they describe as an ongoing genocide in Nigeria, arguing that tens of thousands of Christians have been killed by Muslim jihadists since 2009 and that efforts to blame the bloodshed on climate change or land disputes ignore the evidence.

Genocide Watch and the Alliance Against Genocide sent a memo in May to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion, alleging not only that tens of thousands of Christians have been killed in Nigeria but also that high-ranking officials within the Nigerian military have intentionally failed to intervene.

The memo states that Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) have killed more than 30,000 Christians and moderate Muslims since 2009, while Fulani jihadist militias have killed 30,000 Christians, burned villages and declared some communities part of a “caliphate.”

“There is strong evidence that Fulani, Hausa, and other Muslim Generals in the Nigerian Army are intentionally preventing their troops from intervening to stop massacres of Christian villages until the killing is finished,” the memo states.

Further, the memo alleges that some Nigerian military leaders have economic interests aligned with cattle owners, who benefit when Christian farming communities are displaced.

“Jihadist groups are buying their guns, armed pick-up trucks, fuel, and supplies with money from Fulani cattle owners, who want to increase the grazing areas for their large cattle herds,” it states. “Many herds are owned by Generals in the Nigerian Army. Nigerian President Buhari, a Fulani himself, was President of the Fulani Cattlemen’s Association.”

The memo cites the account of a pastor whose firearm was confiscated by the Nigerian Army, allegedly for violating weapons laws. According to the report, the pastor and his family were later killed when jihadist militants attacked their village.

“Some villages have formed civilian self-defense groups,” the memo says. “However, members of such forces are often arrested by the same Nigerian security forces that failed to protect them. Christian villagers are neither protected nor permitted to protect themselves.”

The attacks “directly threaten freedom of religion or belief,” the memo says.

Genocide Watch and the Alliance Against Genocide pushed back on what they called common explanations offered by the Nigerian government and some international observers.

The groups argued that the violence cannot be blamed on climate change—a theory often cited to explain clashes between herders and farmers over land.

“Does climate change make the jihadists burn down churches if they only want to take over grazing land? In no other country are groups of herders murdering entire villages en masse,” the memo says. “Why would climate change have that effect in Nigeria alone? Real environmental issues are being used as a mask to cover up a genocide of Christians in Nigeria.”

Meanwhile, the groups also rejected arguments that the violence does not fit the definition of genocide.

“‘Definitionalist’ denial is most common among lawyers and policy makers who want to avoid intervention beyond provision of humanitarian aid,” the memo says. “It results in ‘analysis paralysis.’ The European Union, the Secretary General of the United Nations and even Amnesty International still avoid calling the crimes in Nigeria by their proper name: Genocide. It is a pity.”

The memo concluded by urging the U.N. Special Rapporteur to issue a truthful report of the violence and resist pressure to downplay its religious dimensions.

“The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Religious Freedom should not censor her findings in deference to pressure from the Nigerian government,” the memo says. “Diplomatic politeness must not become an excuse for denial or sanitizing of the facts of religious persecution and genocide in Nigeria.

“Human Rights groups around the world will expect a forthright report that reveals the truth about threats to religious freedom and the jihadist terrorists that are committing genocide in Nigeria.”

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