By Isolde Doubell
“Perhaps the greatest surprise is that the persecuted Church often becomes an encouragement to believers living in freedom. The faithfulness of Nigerian believers asks searching questions of Christians everywhere. If they continue to follow Christ despite violence, loss and uncertainty, will we remain faithful where the cost is so much less?” Pastor Arllen Ade, Heal Africa Ministries
On 27 July, armed men attacked a village in northwestern Kaduna State, killing at least 30 people, including eight children, and injuring four others. The attackers shot indiscriminately and burned houses. Although this incident attracted international media coverage, people in the northern parts of Nigeria are attacked and killed almost every day without attracting media coverage. The perpetrators include Islamic militant groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), an offshoot of Islamic State, as well as bandits. Christian farmers in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are also confronted by Islamic militants among the Fulani people, who disproportionately attack Christian communities with horrific violence.
Rev James Akinyele, CEO of the Nigeria Evangelical Fellowship, says that following the latest massacre, the Southern Kaduna Christian Leaders Association, led by Apostle Emmanuel Kure, organised two days of fasting and prayer and called on the government to secure places of worship and rescue abducted people. After all the worshippers kidnapped from Kurmin Wali in January were rescued, Rev Caleb Ma’aji of the Christian Association of Nigeria thanked God and the security agencies, describing it as “a test of faith and leadership” that the state had passed.
Yet many Believers remain in captivity, including some of those abducted from Ariko village during an Easter Sunday attack earlier this year. According to field reports, no efforts are currently being made to secure their release.
Rev Akinyele says the Church in Southern Kaduna is grieving but increasingly united in calling for accountability. “We are asking for protection, justice and decisive action rather than random denial and rationalisation,” he says. “As Apostle Kure said: We will not be silent in the face of evil, nor will we lose hope.“
The Northern Christian Association and Nigerian Christian groups in the diaspora have also urged President Bola Tinubu to declare the protection of vulnerable communities a national emergency.
Living As Sheep Among Wolves
How do Believers continue serving Christ under such circumstances? How do they endure constant fear, loss and trauma?
Pastor Arllen Ade, clinical counsellor and founder of Healing Africa Mission, discussed the situation with David Platt and Austin Huang on Radical.net. According to Arllen, approximately 19,000 churches have been destroyed over the past decade, while around 6,000 Christians have been killed in the Middle Belt and northern regions during the past three to four years.
Behind these statistics are people carrying deep emotional wounds. Many survivors have witnessed horrific brutality, sometimes recorded on videos that are too terrible to watch. Healing Africa Mission provides Biblical counselling to affected Believers. “We counsel people with the Word,” Ade explains. “It is a powerful and effective tool, but often healing takes time. People need to hear God’s truth, respond to it and be surrounded by loving Believers who grieve with those who grieve.”
Persecution also takes quieter forms. Christians can be denied promotions, their children may not be accepted into certain schools, and committed Christian politicians may be overlooked for appointments.
How Should the Global Church Respond?
Arllen encourages Christians to begin by asking God what practical response He requires. Some may be called to mission, whether short-, mid- or long-term, while others may be called to support ministries providing direct relief. Healing Africa Mission, for example, cares for approximately 3,500 widows, some of whom have lost everything. Above all, he urges believers to ask God to soften their hearts towards the suffering of fellow Christians.
Secondly, we should pray that God will sustain and strengthen persecuted Believers and that, if it is His will, He will deliver them from their persecutors. But God does not always deliver Believers from persecution on earth; sometimes He delivers them through martyrdom. We can pray that they will remain faithful witnesses even to those who persecute them. Platt says he often prays that God will do what He did in Acts 9: transform persecutors as He transformed Saul into Paul.
Thirdly, we identify with the persecuted Church by living boldly for Christ wherever we are. We can show them that we are holding up the fort for the Gospel where we are. They are not alone. They are effectively saying of the Gospel: “This is worth my life.” If we are pursuing Jesus at all costs in obedience, we are encouraging them and standing with them.
Finally, we can pray that they (and we) will experience Hebrews 12:1-2: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
The persecuted Church encourages us to keep pressing on. The question is how faithfully we will stand with them.
A Nation Divided
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country, with around 235 million people. It has 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory and is home to more than 250 ethnic groups speaking over 500 languages. Christianity and Islam together account for more than 90% of the population and are almost evenly represented nationally, but the religious geography varies sharply. The south is predominantly Christian, with a prosperous Church that includes megachurches and world-renowned preachers. Twelve northern states operate under sharia law, where Islam is recognised as the only religion despite the constitution guaranteeing religious freedom. In the Middle Belt, extremist Muslim Fulani herders are increasingly taking land from Christian farmers, killing people and destroying livelihoods, leaving many as internally displaced persons (IDPs). At the end of 2024, Nigeria had 3.4 million IDPs due to violence, many of them Christians.
Nigeria ranks seventh on the Open Doors World Watch List, making it one of the most dangerous countries in the world for Christians to live.
Whether Christians are specifically targeted in the north has long been debated. However, a July 2026 article by the Lausanne Movement cites research by the Para-Mallam Peace Foundation and the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa. Between 2020 and 2023, approximately 30,880 civilians were killed in different forms of violence: 16,769 were Christians and 6,235 were Muslims. Verified against ACLED data, the research found that Christians were disproportionately affected by identity-based killings.
Please join us in prayer:
- For emotional healing, comfort, peace and protection for the persecuted Christians of Nigeria. That they will experience God as their Comforter and pass on the comfort that they receive to others. Psalm 147:3 says, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.“
- For the forces of darkness to flee before the light. That the strongholds of darkness will crumble as Believers pray and fast and that extremists will come to Christ.
- For the global Church to never take religious freedom for granted, but also to live courageous, obedient lives, glorifying God.
Sources:
https://lausanne.org/about/blog/a-thriving-and-bleeding-church-understanding-persecution-in-nigeria
https://radical.net/everyday-radical/christians-nigeria-unfiltered-conversation/
https://incontextinternational.org/2025/07/24/hotspot-nation-nigeria/
