Nigeria’s Christian Bloodletting Deepens As Intersociety Claims Over 3,000 Killed, 400 Churches Attacked In Eight Months

• Intersociety alleges that 3,083 Christians were killed and 3,193 abducted across Nigeria between January and August 2026, describing the period as one of the deadliest for Christian communities in recent years.

• The rights group claims 400 churches were attacked while 25 priests and pastors were killed or abducted, with Plateau, Benue, Kaduna and Adamawa among the states worst affected.

• According to the report, July and August alone recorded 437 killings and 393 abductions, while August accounted for 138 deaths and 180 kidnappings, including attacks on Christian travellers.

• The organisation is demanding urgent government intervention, but its casualty figures remain independent claims that security agencies have not officially verified.

September 08, () — The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has raised a fresh alarm over what it described as an escalating wave of deadly attacks against Christians in Nigeria, alleging that more than 3,000 Christians were killed, over 3,100 abducted, and 400 churches attacked in the first eight months of 2026.

In a report released by the organisation’s Chairman, Emeka Umeagbalasi, Intersociety claimed that 3,083 Christians lost their lives while 3,193 others were abducted in attacks it linked to Islamist extremist groups between January and August 2026.

The organisation further alleged that 25 members of the Christian clergy, including priests and pastors, were either killed or abducted during the same period, while hundreds of churches came under violent attacks across different parts of the country.

Umeagbalasi said the report was compiled from information gathered through residents, eyewitnesses, survivors and community sources in affected areas, insisting that the figures reflect attacks the organisation considers religiously motivated.

According to the report, violence intensified during July and August, when 437 Christians were allegedly killed and 393 abducted. August alone reportedly accounted for 138 deaths and 180 abductions, with Plateau and Benue States recording some of the deadliest incidents.

The report also listed alleged attacks in Kaduna, Adamawa, Edo, Kogi, Ondo, Imo, Enugu and several other states, claiming Christian communities continued to suffer coordinated assaults, kidnappings and attacks on places of worship.

Intersociety alleged that armed groups of Fulani origin were responsible for a significant share of the attacks documented in its findings, while also blaming other Islamist extremist groups operating across Nigeria for targeted violence against Christian communities.

On abductions, the organisation claimed that at least 92 Christian travellers were kidnapped in separate incidents in Benue, Kogi and Ondo states during August. It also alleged that about 120 of the 180 Christians abducted in August were from the South-East, including travellers heading to Lagos and Abuja.

Umeagbalasi said the report included what the organisation termed “dark figures” — estimated victims whose deaths or disappearances could not be independently confirmed but were considered likely based on field intelligence and local reports.

The organisation urged the Federal Government to urgently strengthen security in vulnerable communities, improve intelligence gathering, protect places of worship and tackle the growing pattern of kidnappings and killings across the country.