Violence against children and other persons in Nigeria has become one of the most pressing human rights concerns in West Africa. From the attacks by Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in the North-East to clashes in the Middle Belt involving armed gangs, the toll on lives, livelihoods, and religious freedom is staggering. While the Nigerian Constitution guarantees the right to life and freedom of religion, repeated incidents of killings, abductions and destruction of places of worship raise urgent questions about the state’s ability to fulfill its protective duty.
At the same time, international law through instruments such as the 1948 Genocide Convention and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) frames these acts within a broader global responsibility to prevent and punish crimes against humanity.
This explainer examines the crisis through both Nigeria’s domestic legal framework and international law obligations, highlighting the contested narratives and the urgent need for accountability.
While both Christian and Muslim communities have suffered, attacks on churches, clergy, worshippers, and religious schools feature prominently in recent reporting, drawing renewed attention to the state’s protective obligations.
Background and context
Key regions affected include the Middle Belt, North-East, and parts of the North-West. In November 2024, a wave of attacks underscored the crisis: on November 18, about 25 schoolgirls in Kebbi State were abducted and worshippers were killed in Kwara. Three days later, more than 300 pupils and 12 teachers were abducted by armed men from a Catholic school in central Nigeria days after a similar crime had occurred.
In response, Niger State Governor Mohammed Umar Bago ordered the closure of public and private primary and secondary schools. According to reports, 253 children—250 pupils and three children of staff members—along with 12 teachers remain in captivity; 50 students managed to escape. As of this writing, 24 of the 25 abducted schoolgirls have been released, according to President Bola Tinubu.
Nigeria’s domestic legal framework
Nigeria’s domestic legal framework provides clear protections against killings, abductions, and religiously motivated violence but enforcement remains weak. The Constitution guarantees fundamental human rights while criminal and anti-terrorism laws criminalize such acts. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999, as amended) provides unequivocally under Section 33 that every person has the right to life, and no one shall be deprived of it except in execution of a court sentence for a criminal offence. Yet these guarantees have failed to protect the many Nigerians killed in recent attacks. Section 38 further guarantees the freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, including the right to manifest and practice one’s faith. However, worshippers, particularly Christians, have been killed in Kwara. The Penal Code (applicable in Northern Nigeria) and the Criminal Code (applicable in Southern Nigeria) are both enactments to criminalize murder, manslaughter, kidnapping and assault. There is also the Terrorism (Prevention) Act (2011, amended 2013) that criminalizes acts of terrorism, including attacks on religious groups, abductions and destruction of worship places.
In enforcing these provisions, the Constitution places a binding responsibility on the state per Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999, as amended) which establishes that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of
government.” This provision, read in conjunction with Sections 33 and 38, creates both a constitutional and moral obligation for Nigeria to protect its citizens from killings, abductions, and religious persecution.
International law lens
From an international law point of view, the killings and abductions of Christians in Nigeria raise serious concerns under multiple treaties to which Nigeria is bound. The 1948 Genocide Convention obliges states to prevent and punish acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a religious group, and allegations of systematic targeting of worshippers and clergy fall within this framework.
Under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Nigeria must protect the right to life and freedom of religion, pursuant to article 6 and article 18 respectively, both of which are threatened by ongoing violence.
Nigeria is also a party to the Safe School Declaration, a voluntary political commitment to protect education from attack during armed conflict—an obligation directly implicated by the recent mass abductions of students and teachers.
As a State Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Nigeria is subject to ICC jurisdiction over crimes against humanity and genocide, meaning that persistent impunity could trigger international accountability mechanisms.
Regionally, Nigeria has domesticated the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, making its guarantees of life, dignity and religious freedom enforceable in Nigerian courts.
These instruments taken together reveal that Nigeria’s obligations are not only domestic but also international, and failure to act against these killings and abductions risks breaching binding commitments under global and regional law.
Implications and accountability
Vulnerable communities in the Middle Belt and Northern Nigeria require urgent protection. Schools in the affected areas are being temporarily shut down, curtailing students’ right to education and denying them a safe learning environment.
To strengthen the rule of law, the Nigerian government should pursue convictions through its courts and security agencies. Internationally, the situation may warrant UN intervention or ICC investigation. Already, Human Rights Watch has urged Nigeria to take the necessary measures to secure the release of victims of recent mass school abductions.
The killings and abductions in Nigeria expose a stark gap between the country’s constitutional mandate and its international obligations. While Nigerian law guarantees the right to life and freedom of religion, treaties like the 1948 Genocide Convention and the ICCPR demand both protection and accountability. Closing that gap will require not only strengthened security responses but sustained political will to prosecute perpetrators—and, absent domestic action, international mechanisms may ultimately fill the void.
