Christians in Nigeria suffer persecution from an ingrained agenda of enforced Islamisation, which is particularly prevalent in the north of the country and has gradually been spreading south.

Since the northern states declared allegiance to Sharia (Islamic law) in 1999, this enforced Islamisation has gained momentum, by violent and non-violent means. Attacks by Islamic militant groups have increased consistently since 2015, but the government has failed to prevent the rise in violence, which affects all Nigerians, but particularly Christians.

The violence is most pervasive in the north, where militant groups such as Boko Haram, ISWAP and Fulani militants inflict murder, physical injury, abduction and sexual violence on their victims. Christians are dispossessed of their land and their means of livelihood. Many live as internally displaced people or refugees.

In the Sharia states of northern Nigeria, Christians face discrimination and exclusion as second-class citizens. Christians from a Muslim background also face rejection from their own families, pressure to give up Christianity, and often physical violence.

Persecution is most severe and most prevalent in the north, where militant groups such as Boko Haram, ISWAP and Fulani militants seem to increasingly work together against Christians, and against Muslims who don't support their agenda. The raids on Christian communities, and other forms of violence, lead to large numbers of Christians (and other Nigerians) being forced to live in camps for internally displaced people. Women and children are particularly vulnerable in these camps. Children suffer health issues, and women and girls are vulnerable to human trafficking.

As well as direct violence, Christians in northern Nigeria are habitually treated as second-class citizens and suffer discrimination and hostility. Christians from a Muslim background also face rejection from their own families, pressure to give up Christianity, and often physical violence.

Violence and land grabbing are not limited to the north alone. Fulani militants have carried these practices into the southern regions, where communities, villages and other locations have been invaded. The invasion of communities in the south must be understood differently, however. People have not been driven away from their villages, but instead found that their forests and farmlands have been taken over by Fulani militants (and Shuwa Arabs).