A Matter of Perspective: What Persecution Looks Like for Christians in Nigeria

Most of the violence against Christians in Nigeria takes place in the northern parts of the West African nation. But, according the Open Doors, this violence is increasingly moving southward into some Christian-majority states. 

We were talking about the abduction of schoolgirls in Nigeria, and the pastor I spoke with was certainly in a position to know. 

“Aside from about five or six that I know of, I’m not so sure there have been issues of abduction that have to do with students,” said the Nigerian pastor, who is heavily involved in Christian evangelism nationwide.  

We were talking via video chat, face to face but 5,500 miles apart, and I wondered how that distance affects one’s perspective. 

Were (God forbid) a handful of children kidnapped one time from a school anywhere in the United States, imagine the unrelenting media coverage, the posts, the videos, the uninformed speculation 24/7.   

To be fair, one such atrocity in Nigeria did get the world’s attention for a while: On April 14, 2014, Boko Haram terrorists seized 276 teenage girls, mostly out of Christian families, from their dormitory in the town of Chibok. The event sparked a worldwide #BringBackOurGirls campaign. And then …  

“We all recall the international headlines and outrage from national leaders across the globe when the Chibok schoolgirls were kidnapped in 2014,” said Maureen Ferguson, a commissioner for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, during a May 5, 2025, hearing “But do we ever hear that many of those same Chibok schoolgirls are still in captivity today?” 

Striking Contrast 

This month, TWR is launching its Hope Within Reach campaign with a look at how God is using media to bring hope to people in places of conflict, specifically to Nigeria.  

As I researched this topic, I was struck at how different things look where I live, where following Jesus isn’t a matter of life or death, compared with Nigeria, where more Christians are killed for their faith than in any other country, according to the Open Doors advocacy ministry.  

The Nigerian pastor told me about a church building in Nigeria’s Yobe state that extremists burned to the ground. The following Sunday, the church – the people – were there, worshipping God in the rubble.  

I joked that where I come from, church attendance drops because it’s rainy, or because it’s a holiday weekend.  

It wasn’t really a joke.

 

A Tough Place 

Those of us who live in places where, at most, we might experience discrimination or mocking because of our faith can reflect on the history of the Church of Jesus Christ. We’ll soon realize that our relatively tranquil existence has not been the norm.  

It’s not necessarily the norm now, either, or at least not in many places. Open Doors reports that 380 million Christians in our world today face “high levels of persecution or discrimination for their faith.” 

Not all conflict is about religion, nor is all conflict in Nigeria about religion. But whatever the causes, Nigeria is a tough place for Christians. I hope these articles remind us to go to our knees on behalf of our brothers and sisters in this complicated West African country. 

Nigerian Pastor Mark Hezekiah Mukan, who frequently travels to the most perilous places in his country, noted that because of the time difference, believers in the West can be praying for believers in Nigeria as they sleep.  

“So in the West,” he said, “tell them, please, they should not relent in the place of prayer for us to be able to stand.” 

Sources: Online interviews with Pastors Bolarinwa Oluwole (Nigeria Evangelical Mission Association) and Mark Mukan; transcript of U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom hearing of May 5, 2025; Open Doors website.