Religious Umbrella Body
Appears in 2 stories
CAN is Nigeria’s main Christian umbrella body, representing churches across denominations and often acting as a voice on security, human rights and interfaith tensions. - Advocating for Christian communities amid violence while rejecting external militarised interventions framed as religious crusades
Since March 2025, jihadist attacks, mass kidnappings, and farmer-herder violence across northern and central Nigeria have persisted, with over 160 killed in a February 4, 2026, jihadist massacre in Kwara State alone. Key incidents include a US-Nigeria joint airstrike on December 25, 2025, targeting Islamic State militants, multiple Boko Haram and ISWAP attacks killing dozens of soldiers in January 2026, and partial rescues of hostages amid unabated banditry.
Updated Feb 6
CAN is the main umbrella group representing Protestant, Catholic, and Pentecostal churches in Nigeria. - Lead religious voice documenting abductions and advocating for Christian communities
In the early hours of November 21, 2025, armed men stormed St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Papiri, a remote community in Niger State, and abducted 315 people—303 pupils and 12 staff—in one of Nigeria’s largest school kidnappings since Chibok in 2014. Around 50 children later escaped and made their way home, but the mass abduction ignited national outrage, exposed deep security failures, and intensified scrutiny of Abuja as U.S. officials openly weighed sanctions and other measures to pressure Nigeria to better protect Christian communities and other civilians targeted in northern violence.
Updated Dec 11, 2025
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