Speaking Hope in the ‘Epicenter’ of Anti-Christian Violence
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Though Nigeria falls just shy of the top five countries where it is considered most dangerous to be a Christian by Open Doors, it is considered the deadliest for believers of Jesus.
Nigeria “remains the global epicenter of deadly violence against Christians,” said a report issued this week by a group that monitors persecution.
The annual World Watch List from Open Doors didn’t place Nigeria among the top five countries where persecution is the greatest. But Nigeria is by far, the agency reported, the country where the highest number of Christians are killed for their faith. During the yearlong reporting period ending Sept. 30, 2025, Open Doors found that 3,490 of the 4,849 martyred Christians worldwide were Nigerian.
Yet there is hope in places of persecution, a point TWR is making with our ongoing “Hope Within Reach” campaign, which features Nigeria this month. Even where governments are oppressive, TWR broadcasts the gospel from far-away towers in the languages of those who need it most. Online and on the ground – through partnerships and ministries such as Women of Hope and Every Man A Warrior – we bring the light of Jesus to the darkest places.
That includes Nigeria, where the attacks on Christians are broader than killings alone, said the Rev. Abdoulaye Sangho, TWR international director for West and Central Africa.
“In northern Nigeria, Christians live a faith marked by constant fear: attacks on villages, kidnappings, forced displacement and destruction of livelihoods,” Sangho said in an email. “Persecution there is religious, social and economic, affecting the very heart of daily life.”
The World Watch List was one of two reports released this week on the persecuted church. The other is the Red List from Global Christian Relief, which names the five countries with the highest amounts of persecution in each of five categories. Although Global Christian Relief uses different data sources than Open Doors, it also places Nigeria as the country where Christians are most likely to be killed for their faith.
“In any given year, the number of Christians killed by extremist groups [in Nigeria] is rarely less than 4,000,” Global Christian Relief reports. “The death toll among Christians killed in Nigeria has been staggering.”
Still, persecution of Christians is far from just a Nigerian or just an African problem. Based on its criteria, Open Doors finds North Korea to be the country where Christian persecution is worst, followed by Somalia, Yemen, Sudan and Eritrea. Nigeria ranks 7th overall.
Public awareness of the threat against Christians in Nigeria may be greater than in the past, particularly since U.S. President Donald Trump ordered two Christmas Day strikes targeting Islamic State militants. But Mauritania, to the northwest of Nigeria and 21st on the World Watch List, also deserves attention, Sangho said.
“In Mauritania, publicly professing the Christian faith can lead to social isolation, job loss, family breakups and legal prosecution,” Sangho wrote. “Persecution there is often silent but deeply destructive, as it aims to erase any visible expression of Christianity.”
