United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Nazila Ghanea, has said that widespread insecurity, violence and impunity are undermining religious freedom in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, at Macpherson Square in Washington DC, yesterday, a coalition of Nigerian and American Christian advocates gathered in the heart of the United States capital to deliver a blunt message: the killings, kidnappings and displacement of Christians in Nigeria can no longer be treated as a distant tragedy, and the religious extremism driving much of the violence must be confronted openly.

Ghanea spoke in Abuja while presenting her preliminary observations at the end of an 11-day official visit to Nigeria.

The UN envoy visited Nigeria from June 8 to 19. She met with government officials, security agencies, judicial officers, religious leaders, civil society groups, victims of violence and representatives of the diplomatic community.

According to her, concerns over insecurity dominated virtually all discussions on freedom of religion or belief during the visit.

She said the violence, ranging from terrorism and banditry to kidnappings, land grabbing, and attacks on communities, had spread across many parts of the country.

Referencing the April 2025 ruling of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice on Kano’s blasphemy laws, he noted that some state officials questioned the binding nature of the judgment.

THE Washington rally, held on Saturday, June 20, by the U.S. Nigeria Civil Society Coalition under the banner of the ‘Save Nigeria Rally’, brought together faith leaders, human rights campaigners, Nigerian Diaspora groups, American Christian organisations and representatives from Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.

The most pointed intervention came from the President of Save the Persecuted Christians, Dede Laugesen, who told the gathering that the world must be willing to name what she described as religious oppression and demand reform within Islam.

“The world will tell you, this is Islamic oppression,” Laugesen said. “Islam needs reforms.”

Her comments framed one of the rally’s strongest themes: that the violence in Nigeria, which organisers described as a campaign of Christian genocide, cannot be solved without confronting religious doctrines and extremist interpretations that justify attacks on Christians, apostates and perceived blasphemers.

“If you cannot name the issue, you cannot come to a solution,” Laugesen said.

She argued that societies must reject religiously sanctioned violence and uphold a single constitutional order protecting all citizens equally. In Nigeria, she said, the coexistence of civil law and Sharia in parts of the country had deepened the crisis.

The rally was hosted by Stephen Osemwegie, President of Save Nigeria Group, U.S.A., who delivered a welcome address entitled ‘The Urgency of Now’. He said the gathering was not an exercise in diplomacy, but a moral demand for action.

“We gather here today under the banner of a single, undeniable truth: the soil of Nigeria is crying out with the blood of the innocent, and the silence of the international community has become deafening,” Osemwegie said.