Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) and CSW Nigeria seek to highlight violations in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, committed largely by non-state actors as an outworking of efforts to restrict the right of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) of minority communities in northern and central states.

During the 2013 cycle, Nigeria received 219 recommendations - 184 of which were accepted - ranging from continuing the process of ratifying and domesticating outstanding human rights instruments, eliminating harmful practices against women, and reducing human rights violations. The 35 that were noted largely concerned the death penalty, early marriage in the northern Nigeria and same-sex issues.

Article 38 of Nigeria’s federal constitution articulates the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. However, this is not always enjoyed by religious minorities in the northern and central states, particularly since the adoption of the Shari’a penal code by twelve states. This effectively rendered Islam the official state religion, contravening constitutional stipulations prohibiting the adoption of state religion. In an area where ethnicity generally correlates with religion, ethnic minorities are invariably religious minorities also.

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