Of all people, who do you think recently brought attention to the genocide of Christians going on in Nigeria? Atheist liberal commentator, Bill Maher. On his program recently, he brought up how the media is ignoring it, especially when compared to the coverage of Israelis killing Palestinians in Gaza. He said to his panelists, “They are literally attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country. Nigeria, I mean, the fact that this issue has not gotten on people’s radar, right? No one’s talking about it. I’m not a Christian. But they are systematically killing the Christians in Nigeria. They’ve killed over 100,000 since 2009. They’ve burned 18,000 churches. …These are their Islamists, Boko Haram. This is so much more of a genocide attempt than what is going on in Gaza. Where are the kids protesting this?”
Maher’s numbers may not be exact, but estimates do top out around 52,000 to 125,000 Christians killed, with over 19,000 churches attacked & destroyed during that time. Nigeria is the most dangerous place in the world for Christians, with up to 90% of all Christian martyrs worldwide. In the first 220 days of 2025, over 7,000 Nigerian Christians were massacred. That’s an average of 35 every day.
For decades, religious tensions have been simmering, but groups like Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), & Fulani militants have been relentlessly targeting Christians. Their goal? To wipe out Christianity entirely for both religious & political reasons because they’re a threat to their vision of an Islamic caliphate dominating the country.
Christians perhaps make up to nearly half the country’s population, with the violence mostly in the north & middle of the nation where Christians are the minority. Where they’re the majority in the south, there’s less violence, but attacks are spreading. Attacks were once mostly limited to Easter & Christmas, but now they’re almost continuous.
I saw a video post on X last week of a large number of caskets being carried through fields to be buried. The Nigerian filmmaker, author, & activist who posted it said: “You are welcome to count the caskets – daily ritual for these Christians in Nigeria. Their only crime? Being Christians. I keep wondering how this industrial-scale genocide went under the radar for so many years – way more than a decade. No mainstream media coverage. No mentions on the global stage. Nothing!”
Where Sharia law is enforced, Christians are treated like 2nd-class citizens. If someone converts from Islam to Christianity, they risk intense family rejection, threats, or even death. Christian men are often singled out & murdered, while women & girls face horrific abductions & sexual violence. Over 100 pastors & priests have been taken hostage for ransom. Churches, homes, & farmlands are burned to the ground. Millions of Christians, forced from their homes, are living in displacement camps.
But Nigeria is not the only place. When President Trump addressed the UN General Assembly last month, he told world leaders: “Let us protect religious liberty, including for the most persecuted religion on the planet today—it’s called Christianity.” Yet, global leaders don’t seem to be doing much to stop it.
Can you believe that around 380 million Christians—1 in 7 worldwide—are living in places where practicing their faith comes with a huge cost? From Islamic states across North Africa & the Middle East, to Hindu India, to Communist China & North Korea, believers continue being targeted with harassment, job discrimination, fines & taxes, loss of property, violence, abductions, imprisonment, & murder. Often it comes from their own families who disown them & sometimes try to harm or kill them.
In Syria, 1,517 people, including Christians, have been executed since early this year, with 500 girls & women sold into sexual slavery. Meanwhile, in India, a harsh new anti-conversion law in Uttarakhand is clamping down on religious minorities, specifically targeting Christians, making it a crime to share faith online or even pray with family.
The Bible reminds us that persecution isn’t an unusual or unexpected thing. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12). Jesus Himself said, “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). What may be worse than media & governments ignoring this is that so many Christians & churches are either ignoring it, or don’t seem to care. For we who enjoy religious freedom, God calls us to stand with those who suffer for their faith. “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it” & “remember those who are in prison as if you were together with them” (1 Cor. 12:26, Heb. 13:3).
One of the ways we can do this is to participate in the annual global event called the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP). Christ said to the church in Smyrna, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev 2:10). So this year’s theme is “Faithful to the End.” I invite you to join us this Sunday as we pray together. If you’d like to pray more often, go to icommittopray.com.