NIgweria: 'Christianity is being eradicated' warns archbishop

Archbishop Kaigama Image ACN

Source: Aid to the Church in Need

An archbishop has warned of a "deliberate strategy" to eradicate Christianity in Nigeria as huge waves of violence impacted the country.

Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja spoke of the dangers affecting his country at a press conference in Madrid, Spain, organised by Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

Archbishop Kaigama denounced the existence of a "deliberate strategy to thwart Christianity and the expansion of evangelisation in Nigeria".

He said: "There is an Islamic programme to reduce the influence, growth and development of the Christian faith in Nigeria. A deliberate programme by Islamists to reduce the Christian presence in this country… Shari'a has also been imposed on many who are not Muslims. Although they say it is only for Muslims, many people in the north have lost their rights, their lives and cannot live in a proper way.

"If this continues, we will be in danger of losing our Faith and of not having the necessary strength to sustain our Faith and our Church."

During his speech at the press conference on 18th March, he said in addition to Boko Haram/ISWAP's terrorist activity in the north, there have been massacres in Christian villages perpetrated by Fulani extremists and a massive proliferation of criminal kidnappers.

He added: "They are injecting fear into our priests, kidnapping priests again and again and again.

"They are injecting fear into the laity who gather to celebrate Mass by bombing them, shooting them, threatening them... to prevent them from getting together."

The violence in the north of the country has caused many communities to suffer constant attacks, severe discrimination and persecution, as seen on 16th March in Maiduguri, Borno State, where suicide bombers attacked a post office, hospital and market killing 28 and injuring more than 100.

Archbishop Kaigama said that even in his diocese of Abuja, in the centre of the country, priests have been kidnapped. And in three other parishes on the outskirts of the capital, parish priests have had to flee in the face of constant death threats.

He said that US President Donald Trump's strikes in Nigeria in December 2025 that aimed to tackle Christian persecution had had the "opposite effect".

While acknowledging the president "was the first international leader to announce that the Church of Nigeria was being persecuted", he said the US aerial assaults on Sokoto last December "has further inflamed the Islamists in that territory".

He added: "The number of attacks and kidnappings by Boko Haram and the other groups has been growing ever since…

"We thought he was going to come and attack the root of the problem, the root of Boko Haram, that he was going to eradicate all this and that we could live in peace. It has not achieved much - in fact it has achieved the opposite effect."

The prelate described the number of murders and kidnappings as "incredible" and stressed that his concern is "how to heal Nigeria".

The archbishop called on the international community to support Nigeria and take concrete measures to alleviate the violence that the country is going through.

"There is a competition for the soul of Nigeria. And not only the soul, but also the material resources."

He thanked ACN for its support and stressed the importance of prayer to end this situation.

He said: "Prayer can heal all problems".

The archbishop underlined the great devotion of Nigerians to the Virgin Mary, "a fundamental pillar in this struggle".

He said during the ad limina visit of the Nigerian bishops to Rome a week earlier, they entrusted themselves to her to ask for her help.

Archbishop Kaigama concluded: "Our people are very devoted to the Virgin and there is an enormous devotion to her. The bishop of Borno, one of the areas most affected by Boko Haram, says that through the blessing of the Virgin Mary, this war will be won."

With thanks to ACN Spain.