LAGOS, NIGERIA — Armed militants attacking Christian communities in Nigeria are increasingly issuing a stark ultimatum to villagers: Either convert to Islam and pay a religious tax known as jizya or face execution, according to eyewitness accounts collected by The Washington Times and international religious freedom monitors.
Accounts of conversion threats surfaced after fighters linked to the Islamic State West Africa Province killed at least 25 Christians and burned homes during a February attack in Madagali County in Nigeria’s northeastern Adamawa State.
The assault drew international attention when U.S. Rep. Riley Moore, West Virginia Republican, cited the killings as evidence that Nigerian Christians are being targeted for their faith. “ISIS-West Africa is slaughtering Christians and telling other Christians they must convert or die,” Mr. Moore wrote in a statement posted on X. “Christians continue to be explicitly targeted for their faith in Nigeria.”
Mr. Moore said a congressional report recently delivered to the White House warned that future American security cooperation with Nigeria could depend on stronger protections for Christian communities.
Eyewitness accounts
Residents interviewed by The Washington Times say similar threats have been delivered during attacks across Nigeria’s Middle Belt and northeastern regions. “It is ISWAP that normally does these attacks,” said Bala John Maigida, a resident of Adamawa State. “The hallmark of ISWAP is to go into communities, round up Christians and kill them.”
In Benue State, the Rev. Titus Shimanyan said members of his family were displaced by militant attacks on Christian communities. “My mother fled terrorist attacks in Benue and was already living as an internally displaced person,” Father Shimanyan told The Times. “The terrorists burned her house and many other houses. She was lucky to escape.”
Other survivors describe militants targeting churches during worship services.
In Egwuma, a predominantly Catholic community in Benue State’s Agatu County, eyewitness Andy Itodo said Fulani militants arrived on motorbikes and opened fire on villagers attending Sunday services. “The attackers appeared from the forest, wielding automatic rifles and started shooting indiscriminately,” Mr. Itodo said. “The worst part was that we were already inside the church.”
Witnesses say the attackers often shout, “Allahu akbar,” Arabic for “God is great,” during the assaults, using the traditional Islamic prayer as a battle cry. Victims also identified the gunmen as ethnic Fulani militants.
The Washington Times has documented similar survivor atrocities in Benue, Plateau and Taraba states, where militants demanded religious conversion during attacks on Christian villages.
The Nigeria Terror Tracker, maintained by TruthNigeria, shows widespread militant activity nationwide and maps the geographic spread.
Nigeria’s crisis
International monitoring groups say Nigeria has become the epicenter of global Christian persecution. According to the Open Doors World Watch List 2026, 3,490 Christians were killed in Nigeria from October 2024 to September 2025, accounting for roughly 72% of all Christian killings worldwide.
“Nigeria is in sub-Saharan Africa, a region that represents a death trap for Christians,” Henrietta Blyth, chief executive of Open Doors UK & Ireland, said during the report’s presentation in London.
The scale of violence has prompted growing concern among Western policymakers. “Statistics underscore the persistent targeted persecution facing Christian communities, particularly in Nigeria’s North and Middle Belt regions,” said David Onyilokwu Idah, director of the International Human Rights Commission in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, in comments to Truth Nigeria, a reporting platform based in the United States.
Church leaders in northern Nigeria say the violence is often mischaracterized as economic conflict. “How can you call the slaughter of pregnant women and children in their sleep a farmer-herder conflict?” the Rev. John Joseph Hayab, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria for the 19 northern states, told The Times.
“Religious extremism is the biggest driver of conflict, followed by poverty, ignorance and poor governance.”
Mr. Hayab said Nigerian authorities must ensure equal protection for Christian communities. “The government must treat Christians with dignity in education, employment and the right to life,” he said.
Armed and dangerous
Security analysts say several armed groups operate across Nigeria’s northern and central regions.
In the northeast, jihadi organizations, including Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province, have carried out insurgent attacks since 2009.
In Nigeria’s Middle Belt, armed Fulani militant groups have conducted raids on predominantly Christian farming communities involving village burnings, killings and kidnappings.
John Samuel, a regional analyst for Open Doors, said violence in the Middle Belt is frequently underreported.
“The least reported violence causing a massive problem is the violence in north-central Nigeria by Fulani militants,” Mr. Samuel told journalists during the organization’s report presentation in London.
As eyewitness testimony and global data draw increasing attention to Nigeria’s crisis, Western governments face pressure to respond.
British officials have urged stronger international engagement.
“No one should live in fear because of their faith,” said David Smith, the British special envoy for freedom of religion or belief. “The minimum we can do is speak up.”
For survivors of militant attacks in Nigeria’s conflict zones, the debate over terminology — terrorism, persecution or genocide — remains secondary to the violence they face.
“It is a jihad war against us,” Mr. Itodo said. “This is the third time they have attacked our community.”
• Mary Kiara reports on terrorism and religious freedom policy from Lagos.
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