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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Prof. Nazila Ghanea, has identified insecurity, violence and a pervasive culture of impunity rather than formal religious discrimination as the principal obstacles to the enjoyment of religious freedom across the country.
Ghanea, who conducted the visit from June 8 to 19, 2026 at the invitation of the Nigerian government, held meetings with government officials, civil society organisations, representatives of religious communities, faith-based actors, judges, lawyers and academics.
Her itinerary covered Abuja, Jos and Kano, three cities that have each witnessed significant inter-communal tensions and episodes of religious violence in recent years.
Addressing journalists at the National Human Rights Commission in Maitama, Abuja, Ghanea said that any discussion of freedom of religion or belief in Nigeria inevitably raised acute concerns about insecurity, violence and conflict that had spread throughout the country, generating alarm at varying intensities and for different reasons.
On accountability, she was unequivocal. Impunity and a lack of accountability had reportedly entrenched cycles of fear and violence and encouraged their spread, she said, adding that questions of marginalisation and discrimination on religious grounds had been overshadowed by these overriding security concerns.
The Rapporteur acknowledged Nigeria’s complexity and cautioned against simplistic characterisations of the country’s religious landscape.
She described Nigeria as the sixth most populous country in the world and a nation of multiple, multilayered diversities and rich pluralism, while warning that narratives, structures and policies about the country are often reductive and polarising of that pluralism.
No single description, she said, is adequate to capture the full picture of freedom of religion or belief across the country, and the search for a single explanatory framework, though tempting, proves highly inadequate.
Despite that diversity, religion remains a powerful social force, Ghanea noted that religion functions as a dominant organising principle across Nigeria, but stressed that contextualised accounts are also necessary to understand how it operates at the local and community levels.
On the legal framework, the Rapporteur acknowledged constitutional guarantees while drawing attention to the fault lines at the sub-national level.
She noted that core fundamental rights including freedom of thought, conscience and religion, freedom of expression, non-discrimination, and the rights to life and dignity, are guaranteed under the Nigerian Constitution, but that these rights come into tension at the state level within plural legal systems governing personal status matters, blasphemy, hate speech and criminal punishments.
Despite the gravity of her findings, Ghanea expressed measured optimism about Nigeria’s capacity to chart a better course.
She said there is no doubt that Nigeria has the expertise and experts as well as inspirational, committed youth to secure freedom of thought, conscience and religion for all on an equal basis, but that there remains a long way to go before that goal is fully realised.
Ghanea, a Professor of International Human Rights Law and Director of the MSc in International Human Rights Law at Oxford University, assumed her mandate as UN Special Rapporteur on August 1, 2022.
Her Nigeria trip was among the most high-profile country visits undertaken under her tenure, given the scale and complexity of the religious freedom situation in Africa’s most populous nation.
The Special Rapporteur is expected to present a full report with findings and recommendations to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in March 2027.
The report will assess Nigeria’s compliance with international human rights standards and propose measures to guarantee religious freedom for all citizens on an equal basis.
