ABUJA, Nigeria — A civil liberties organisation says 3,083 Christians were killed in Nigeria during the first eight months of 2026. Another 3,193 were abducted, according to the group’s findings.
The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, known as InterSociety, published the figures in a report dated Sunday, September 6, 2026.
The organisation said it compiled and analysed information from primary and secondary sources, including accounts provided by residents, survivors and witnesses in affected communities.
InterSociety’s figures could not be independently established from the information presented in the report.
Deaths and Abductions
The report recorded 2,550 Christian deaths and 2,800 abductions between January and June.
InterSociety said attacks during July and August raised those totals to 3,083 people killed and 3,193 kidnapped.
For August alone, the organisation counted 138 deaths and 180 abductions.
It said many of those cases occurred in Plateau and Benue states, although it also documented killings in Adamawa and Kaduna.
Among the cases highlighted was that of Pastor Hills Emmanuel, whom the organisation said was abducted and killed in Plateau State in late August.
InterSociety said its statistics were limited to incidents it classified as religiously motivated attacks committed by groups it described as Islamic jihadist organisations.
The organisation attributed at least 90 per cent of the documented attacks to armed Fulani groups it characterised as jihadist herders or bandits.
It said accounts from survivors, witnesses and residents supported its assessment.
The report also said at least 25 Catholic priests and Christian pastors had been attacked, abducted or killed since the beginning of the year.
Churches and Communities
InterSociety estimated that approximately 19,800 churches had been attacked or destroyed across the country since July 2009.
In Taraba State, the organisation said at least 230 churches were attacked or destroyed within areas covered by the Catholic dioceses of Wukari and Jalingo between September 2025 and August 2026.
More than 100,000 parishioners were displaced during that period, while about 200 predominantly Christian villages were forced from their communities, according to the report.
InterSociety said the displacement, destruction of religious buildings and repeated attacks indicated that the violence extended beyond isolated incidents.
The organisation also cited losses reported by the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, commonly known by the initials E.Y.N., and the Universal Reformed Christian Church, or N.K.S.T.
It said the two denominations had collectively lost more than 27,000 members and thousands of churches to militant violence since July 2009.
InterSociety referred to a 2020 account from a former E.Y.N. president identified as Pastor Billi, who said the denomination had lost more than 8,600 members and hundreds of district worship centres to Boko Haram.
Most of those losses were reported in Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba and Borno states.
The report also cited the N.K.S.T. general secretary, the Rev. Ta Targba, as saying that attacks in Benue State had claimed 5,987 members of the denomination and affected 753 of its churches.
InterSociety called for urgent measures to protect vulnerable communities, clergy members and religious institutions.
