The new civilian Government generally has respected religious freedom in practice, although its ability to enforce respect for religious freedom or to prevent violence between Muslims and non-Muslims in all cases remains uncertain. Although the Government has never outlawed proselytizing, it continued to discourage and criticize it publicly, in the belief that it stimulates religious tensions. Both the 1979 and the never-implemented 1989 constitutions prohibit state and local governments from adopting an official religion. The predominant form of Islam in the country is Sunni. The Christian population includes Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Baptists, Methodists, and a qrowing number of followers of evangelical Pentecostal qroups.
Catholics constitute the largest Christian denomination.
There is some correlation between religious differences and ethnic and regional differences. Many Yorubas practice Islam, many practice Christianity, and many continue to practice the traditional Yoruba religion, which includes both belief in a single supreme deity and the worship of lesser deities believed to serve as the agents of that supreme deity with respect to specific aspects of life. In the east, where the large Igbo ethnic group is dominant, Catholics are in the majority. Foreign missionary groups operate in the country and do not face restrictions specifically designed to deter their activities. Both Christian and Muslim organizations alleged that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Immigration Department restricted the entry into the country of certain religious practitioners, particularly persons suspected of intending to proselytize.