| dc.description.abstract | Nigeria’s rising insecurity has increasingly targeted churches, mosques, and other religious spaces, transforming houses of worship from sanctuaries into vulnerable sites of extremist and communal violence. This trend is driven by weaponized religious ideologies, weak security architecture, political manipulation of faith, and deep-seated socio-economic grievances that fuel recruitment and radicalization. Religious locations remain soft targets due to their openness, limited physical protection, and the symbolic impact attackers seek from mass-casualty assaults. Equally, legal, institutional, and community-level mechanisms for safeguarding these spaces remain fragmented and under-resourced. Deliberate attacks on religious sites not only endanger lives but also deepen mistrust, erode social cohesion, and threaten religious freedom. In February 2026, suspected bandits reportedly demanded a 100 million naira levy from clerics in Utouno community, Ngaski LGA, Kebbi State, threatening violence if unpaid. Similar practices have been reported in Sokoto and Zamfara States, illustrating the transformation of banditry from sporadic attacks into a systematic mechanism for revenue extraction and territorial control. Such actions undermine constitutional protections, particularly Section 38 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, which safeguards freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. This brief calls for urgent action to systematize the protection of religious spaces as a core component of national security and democratic resilience. In view of this, the following recommendations are proposed:
• Strengthen Legislation: Amend Part V of the Criminal Code to classify extortion targeting religious institutions or events as an aggravated offence, with enhanced penalties during major religious observances.
• Enhance Accountability & Prosecution: Ensure enforcement of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, to prosecute organized extortion networks and provide protection for victims and witnesses.
• Legislators may wish to enact laws prohibiting or restricting sectarian doctrines and hate speech that incite violence against religious communities, especially in formal and informal settings. This could include mandating inter-faith and anti-extremism education programs in schools and religious institutions, supported by legislative backing and budgetary provisions.
• NASS may wish to consider enacting legislation to integrate community-generated threat reports, particularly from religious communities and traditional rulers into national early warning and rapid-response systems, ensuring systematic action on such intelligence. | en_US |
