On ongoing persecution of Christians in Nigeria, notably the Kawel village massacre

B100345/2026

European Parliament resolution on ongoing persecution of Christians in Nigeria, notably the Kawel village massacre

(2026/2800(RSP))

– having regard to Rule 150(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

having regard to its previous resolutions on Nigeria,

having regard to the recent reports and statements by the United Nations, the European Union, the Holy See, and international human rights and peacebuilding organizations regarding the security and humanitarian crisis in Nigeria,

whereas in June 2026, a brutal armed attack on civilians in the Kawel community, Plateau State, caused dozens of deaths among the local Christian community, widespread injuries, and infrastructure damage, reflecting the tragic intersection of ethnic-religious tensions and resource conflicts;

whereas international reports indicate that regional insecurity inflicts severe suffering across religious lines, as armed non-state actors indiscriminately target civilian populations of all faiths and their places of worship;

whereas the Middle Belt region faces an intensifying conflict over land and scarce natural resources, worsened by climate change, desertification, and environmental degradation, forcing nomadic pastoralists southward into areas occupied by sedentary agrarian communities;

whereas these long-standing socio-economic tensions over dwindling arable land and water access are frequently instrumentalized by militant groups to inflame identity-based, ethnic, and religious animosities;

whereas retaliatory violence is fueled by structural failures in local intelligence, absence of independent accountability, lack of an effective local judicial system, unregulated vigilante groups, and the erosion of socio-economic resilience among rural youth, leaving them vulnerable to recruitment by militant groups;

Strongly condemns all violence perpetrated against civilians in Kawel and the wider Middle Belt, particularly deploring the disproportionate impact on women and girls, explicitly denouncing the alarming rise in targeted abductions and kidnapping for ransom;

Expresses deepest condolences to the victims' families and solidarity with those affected and displaced;

Urges Nigerian federal and state authorities to conduct a thorough, transparent, and independent investigation into the Kawel massacre to bring perpetrators to justice and break the culture of impunity;

Calls upon the Nigerian Government to remedy intelligence failures, improve early-warning sharing, strengthen state-led civilian protection, invest in regional mediation, and implement sustainable land-management policies to address ecological drivers while respecting the rights and security of all local communities;

Reaffirms its unwavering commitment to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; recalls the state’s obligation to ensure the equality before the law of all citizens and the full, non-discriminatory respect for all places of worship and religious sites;

Rejects the reductive and oversimplified classification of this multi-layered crisis, emphasizing that its causes stem from geopolitical and systemic drivers rooted in endemic poverty, lack of stable livelihoods, and socio-economic marginalization, and strongly opposes the instrumentalization of religion to fuel, escalate, or brutalize conflicts;

Calls on the Commission and the EEAS to intensify conflict-mediation efforts and urges the international community to increase humanitarian assistance to address hunger and malnutrition crises, expressing deep concern that severe food insecurity in Nigeria has risen to 36.2 million people, exceeding previous alarming estimates;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Government and Parliament of Nigeria, the AU, and EU institutions.