Christian, Muslim leaders join forces, criticize Nigerian gov’t

By Samuel Smith, Deputy Managing Editor Thursday, February 19, 2026

WASHINGTON — Christian, Muslim and conventional leaders in Nigeria are banding collectively as a part of a brand new interfaith effort to search out options and demand safety from their authorities, as 1000’s of civilians are killed every year by communal clashes, banditry and terrorism which have displaced thousands and thousands over the past decade-plus.

After signing an unprecedented interfaith accord on Dec. 9 in Abuja, a handful of senior Nigerian religion leaders gathered earlier this month for an invite-only dialogue, convened by Pepperdine College, the World Peace Basis and the Spiritual Freedom Institute, to supply knowledgeable dialogue on the evolving safety and humanitarian disaster in Nigeria.

The assembly comes as tens of 1000’s of individuals have been killed for the reason that emergence of the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria in 2009. On high of the extremism by terror teams, the shortage of safety in different areas of Nigeria has enabled gangs to take management of whole villages and perform mass kidnappings and killings.

The Feb. 4 assembly, which occurred as non secular freedom advocates from throughout the globe gathered within the nation’s capital for the sixth-annual Worldwide Spiritual Freedom Summit, included three commissioners from the U.S. Fee on Worldwide Spiritual Freedom who listened intently to what the Nigerian leaders needed to say.

Whereas six Nigerian leaders traveled to Washington to attend the assembly in particular person, a number of others who signed the current accord joined nearly. Leaders mentioned present situations, and agreed on priorities and pathways ahead.

With U.S. President Donald Trump ramping up his rhetoric towards the violence in Nigeria and the current deployment of 200 U.S. troops to Nigeria, USCIRF commissioners advised the Nigerians that there isn’t any higher time than now to push their authorities to guard its residents and maintain unhealthy actors accountable, given the unprecedented consideration the difficulty is now receiving within the U.S.

Talking with ‘one voice’

The leaders appeared baffled as to why the Nigerian authorities has completed so little to guard its individuals, thwart assaults or maintain terrorists accountable for attacking civilians, which they contend are primary capabilities for any respectable authorities. They known as on the federal government to guard weak communities, enhance intelligence and speedy response, guarantee justice and help victims.

“On Dec. 9, 2025, religious leaders made up of Christians, Muslims, Hindus and traditional leaders from across Nigeria convened for a high-level faith dialogue to discuss the crisis of killings, kidnappings and violence impacting communities nationwide,” Pastor Joseph Hayab, the chairman of the Christian Affiliation of Nigeria, mentioned.

“Guided by the sanctity of life and God’s given dignity of every Nigerian, leaders renewed their commitment to moral leadership, national unity and collective action. … They emphasize that attacks against Muslims or Christians or any community are reprehensible and do not reflect any faith. … The religious leaders agreed to speak with one voice to denounce violence, promote peace and uphold the dignity and rights of all Nigerians, regardless of religion or ethnicity.”

The accord urged Nigerians to “take responsibility to solve our problems,” with Hayab saying, “No one from outside can genuinely solve it.”

One of many steps the leaders agreed on on the Dec. 9 gathering was to create a joint interfaith advocacy committee to coordinate data sharing and unified motion. Additionally they agreed to strengthen neighborhood early warning techniques, an effort that features the usage of “informal peace firefighters.” Additionally they search to “reactivate traditional conflict resolution mechanism.”

“We agreed to launch nationwide interfaith peace messaging, including sermons, media engagement and youth and women-led initiatives promoting unity and dignity,” Hayab mentioned.

The dialogue was moderated by the Rev. Fr. Canice Chinyeaka Enyiaka, who mentioned that Nigerians are “deeply religious” and that any peace course of should interact “the role of faith leaders.”

“The meeting was solution-oriented,” he mentioned. “The faith leaders did not engage in name-calling. They were looking for a way forward.”

‘Compass in their pocket’

John Cardinal Onaiyekan, the 82-year-old Roman Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, didn’t mince phrases throughout the assembly. He mentioned that when Nigeria was below British rule earlier than it gained independence in 1960, many Nigerians dreamed of the day when Nigeria would turn out to be a robust nation just like the U.S., the UK, France or Germany.

“The older generation is aware of what a good country should be,” Onaiyekan mentioned. “My fear is that the younger generation no longer even knows what it means to have a good country.”

“We believe that the religious leaders should do more to be able to help those who rule our nation to be consistent with the faith, which we say is given the good guidance someone mentioned about moral compass,” he continued. “And my feeling is that, even though the moral compass is there, many of our leaders have decided to put the compass in their pocket and are not really too interested in being guided.”

With thousands and thousands displaced throughout Nigeria, USCIRF commissioners requested in regards to the state of internally displaced individuals, lots of whom have lived in degrading situations at IDP camps for years with no hope of returning dwelling to their cities overrun by terrorists.

For individuals who have stayed of their cities after being overrun, leaders mentioned they’re topic to the situations set by the extremists who’ve been allowed to ascertain de facto governance in these areas.

‘Should not be happening in the year 2026’

“Things are happening that should not be happening in the year 2026,”  the cardinal acknowledged. “That should not be possible for terrorists to occupy and govern spaces freely. The [government leaders] will not come to campaign, but they will get votes … deceiving us.”

Audio system lamented that when navy, police or different safety forces are despatched to reply to assaults on villages, they typically “come in unprepared, without any strategy.”

Hassan Attahiru, the emir of Bungudu in Zamfara State, a Muslim conventional ruler who was kidnapped by bandits in 2021 and held captive for over a month, mentioned the IDP difficulty is commonly associated to the shortage of safety for the “ungoverned spaces where they left.”

“We still have not focused on trying to reclaim those territories,” Attahiru mentioned of the federal government’s response. “To me, that’s where we should have passed that stage by now, at least in some stages. … The way things are now, if we are able to reclaim a territory and then encourage those people to come back to their houses, their homes are still there. And so, whatever you are thinking of getting [IDPs] support or getting them supplies, it’s not going to work if we don’t reclaim those territories and then they go back to their place.”

Regardless of authorities inaction, the normal ruler mentioned a number of the issues going through Nigeria are “self-created.”

“All of us are responsible,” he mentioned. “Just not sit down and then suddenly blame it on the government or politicians. It’s all part of us. It will be our ability to really work together and solve this problem.”

“[The problems] did not start under the Tinubu administration, but then leaders are always measured by how much they have worked towards solving inherited problems,” Attahiru added. “[T]hat’s what makes the difference between a good leader, or even an ordinary leader, a great leader. So it’s the responsibility of the president and other organs of government to ensure that they show transparency in the actions they show.”

With an workplace in Washington, the California-based Pepperdine College has shaped relationships in 20 African nations searching for to advertise justice reform. Daniel J. DeWalt, senior vp for World Impression and chief of workers at Pepperdine College, mentioned the college desires to ask the Christian and Muslim leaders to satisfy with the Nigerian chief justice to “work toward an agreement that all could sign to speak with one voice to create a peace agreement that could be built upon.”