Christian Solidarity International (CSI), a Christian human rights organisation, has launched a three-month campaign to raise awareness of violence against Christian communities in Nigeria and mobilise international support for those affected.
The campaign, titled Christians in Nigeria: Under Siege, was launched on November 5, 2026, and focuses particularly on the Middle Belt, where the organisation says Christian communities continue to face killings, kidnappings and displacement.
CSI said the campaign would bring the experiences of survivors and affected communities to the attention of the international community while calling for action to protect them.
The organisation said armed groups, including Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and armed Fulani groups, have been responsible for attacks on Christian communities in different parts of the country.
According to CSI, the centre of violence against Christians has shifted over the past decade from the northeast, where Boko Haram emerged in 2009, to the Middle Belt.
The organisation cited figures from the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA), which attributed 18,577 civilian deaths between October 2019 and September 2025 to armed Fulani groups.
The figures, CSI said, were nearly four times the number of deaths attributed to Boko Haram and ISWAP combined.
CSI also cited estimates suggesting that a Christian is killed every 86 minutes in the Middle Belt.
The organisation said it had received reports from local journalists documenting alleged agreements imposed on predominantly Christian villages by armed groups.
Under the reported arrangements, residents are allegedly required to surrender portions of their harvests, remain within their communities and submit women and girls to sexual violence.
CSI said it would continue documenting the reported practices as the campaign progresses.
The organisation said its team visited the Middle Belt in June 2026, where it met survivors, civil society activists, journalists and lawyers. The campaign draws on accounts gathered during the visit and CSI’s humanitarian work in the region.
Among the survivors the organisation met was Longdi ThankGod, who was in labour at a rural clinic in Plateau State when armed men attacked the facility on June 21.
She escaped while experiencing contractions, but her husband and four members of his family were killed during the attack.
CSI also mentioned the case of five-year-old Mary David, who was struck in the face with a machete during an attack in Miango, Plateau State, in May. The incident left her blind in her left eye.
Dr John Eibner, CSI president, said the scale of violence against Christian communities in the Middle Belt was immense and called on the Nigerian government and its international partners to take action.
The Reverend Hassan John, CSI’s project partner in the Middle Belt, described the campaign as a source of hope for communities that believe they have been forgotten by the international community.
He said knowing that Christians around the world were praying for them and advocating on their behalf made a significant difference to affected communities.
CSI said it had provided emergency assistance to Christian victims of violence in Nigeria since 2013 and began advocacy work on behalf of Christians in the Middle Belt in 2019.
Its programmes include food distribution and medical care for internally displaced persons, financial assistance to help displaced families rebuild their livelihoods, scholarships for children who have lost parents or guardians, and international advocacy.
The organisation also announced a journalism fellowship programme aimed at supporting Nigerian journalists reporting on violence in the Middle Belt.
CSI said the three-month campaign would seek to bring the experiences of affected Christian communities to a wider international audience and encourage action to protect.
