Nigeria tops report for number of Christians killed, kidnapped in 2024
Nigeria was the country with the highest number of Christians killed and kidnapped in 2024, according to the latest report from the advocacy group Open Doors.
The World Watch List, released on January 15, revealed that 3,100 Christians were killed and 2,830 were kidnapped in Nigeria in 2024, surpassing all other countries that year.
The report also indicated that India had the most Christians arrested in 2024, with 2,176 arrests, while Rwanda experienced the highest number of attacks on Christian churches or buildings, totaling 4,000.
Open Doors’ watch list confirmed that Christian persecution increased “in absolute terms” in approximately 100 countries monitored in 2024, with 13 countries categorized as experiencing “extreme levels” of persecution against Christians.
The group estimated that over 380 million Christians worldwide faced at least a “high level” of persecution and discrimination due to their faith.
The top five countries for Christian persecution in 2024, according to the report, were North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, and Sudan, with Nigeria ranked seventh. The top 13 countries, including Eritrea, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Saudi Arabia, and Myanmar, were all classified as having “extreme” levels of anti-Christian persecution.
In the release of the World Watch List 2025, Open Doors Italy Director Cristian Nani stated, “380 million Christians worldwide do not enjoy the basic human right to believe what they want. How many more killed, displaced, abused, and imprisoned Christians do we need to count before we put religious freedom at the center of public debate?”
Nani added, “In 32 years of research, we record a steady increase in anti-Christian persecution in absolute terms. 2024 is again a record year of intolerance: 1 in 7 Christians suffer discrimination or persecution because of their faith. It is crucial to get back to talking about religious freedom in the public debate.”
Open Doors, supporting persecuted Christians in over 70 countries, compiles its annual World Watch List through data from local networks, national researchers, external experts, and an ad hoc team of analysts.
The ranking is formulated by analyzing the pressure on a Christian’s life in five areas: private, family, community, church, and public life, with violence considered as a separate element in the analysis.
Nigeria has faced Muslim extremist violence since 2009, primarily from groups like Boko Haram, which reportedly persecute Christians, sometimes kidnapping them for ransom and, in some cases, killing them.
A 2025 report from the pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need noted that the abduction of Catholic clergy and religious in Nigeria decreased from 28 in 2023 to 12 in 2024. However, Nigeria remains one of the most dangerous countries for priests or religious individuals.
The latest religious figures kidnapped in Nigeria, Sisters Vincentia Maria Nwankwo and Grace Mariette Okoli, were abducted on January 7 from the Archdiocese of Onitsha. They have since been released and are “in good health,” according to their congregation’s leadership, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of Christ (IHM).