The federal government of Nigeria should establish an interreligious commission to handle atrocities stemming from religious conflicts and persecution, says the Kukah Center.

The policy research institute is founded by Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Nigerian Catholic Diocese of Sokoto.

The recommendation comes at the end of a 32-page report detailing the latest incidents of kidnapping and violence aimed at the Christian community in Nigeria.

“Christians have been disproportionately targeted both in terms of marginalisation, exclusion, and physical violence,” says the report.

Many Christian communities are becoming “soft spots” for violent attacks because of the “government’s failure to nip the crisis in the bud,” the report says.

“Their susceptibility is worsened with an utter deprivation of basic amenities such as good access [to] roads, potable water, hospitals, schools, etc. Christians are subjected to the Sharia law, mob killings, forceful conversion to Islam, violent extremism, kidnappings, rape, child labor, human trafficking, and other human rights-related abuses. But the various arms and tiers of the government have shown complacency amid the increasing rate of these forms of violations against Christians.”