A civil rights organisation, the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, has reported that terrorists in Nigeria have killed and abducted 1,402 Christians between January 1, 2026, and Easter Monday, April 6, 2026.
In a statement, Intersociety Chairman Emeka Umeagbalasi said 450 people were killed within the period, while 600 were abducted.
He said the massacre of Christians and persecution of churches in Nigeria has continued to widen and escalate, with state actor involvement deepening unchecked.
Umeagbalasi accused the government of attempting to replace attacks and killings with false narratives of “farmers-herders’ clashes brought about climate change, in which Muslims were also killed.”
According to him, the 450 Christian deaths included 102 recorded during Holy Week (March 28 to April 4), 34 deaths on Easter Sunday alone (April 5), 20 deaths recorded between March 20 and March 27, and 16 additional deaths.
He also clarified that 180 of the 450 deaths were among abducted Christians who died in captivity due to torture, starvation, gunshot wounds, and untreated injuries.
“Out of every ten abducted Christians, one is not coming back alive,” Umeagbalasi said.
He detailed specific attacks, including: 34 Christians hacked to death on Easter Sunday in Benue (17 deaths) and Kaduna (15 deaths); 13 Christians killed and 24 injured in a Boko Haram roadside bombing along Pulka-Ngoshe Road in Southern Borno on March 28; 21 Christians killed by Boko Haram in Kautikari Christian community, Chibok, Southern Borno, on March 30; and 40 Christians slaughtered on Palm Sunday (March 29) in Angwan Rubuka, Jos, Plateau State.
Umeagbalasi also highlighted that the Home for the Needy Foundation near Benin in Edo State is currently sheltering 4,513 internally displaced persons, mainly Christians fleeing jihadist persecution from northern states including Borno, Bauchi, Zamfara, Kaduna, Kebbi, Taraba, Adamawa, Niger, Plateau, and Benue.
