Throughout the night and morning of March 11, 2019, Pastor Timothy Umaru and several other men stood guard at an entrance to their Nigerian village. They were watching for any sign of the Fulani Islamic militants who had attacked a neighboring village days earlier. Then, as the sun rose shortly after 6 a.m., they began to hear screams and gunfire in the village behind them. Villagers were running in every direction as the air filled with smoke from burning homes. The militants had attacked the village from another entrance, and Timothy felt helpless as he thought about his family, his church and his predominantly Christian village. “In all honesty,” he said, “even though the Bible has told us that these things would happen, the first question I asked was, ‘God, where are You?’” Timothy’s wife, Rifkatu, and their 3-year-old granddaughter, Uma, had just finished praying with their lead pastor’s family at the church parsonage when the attack occurred. Rifkatu heard the gunfire and screams when she stepped out with Uma to get some fresh air. After scooping Uma up in her arms and running back inside to alert everyone, Rifkatu and the others hurriedly left the pastor’s home, which they
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She never expected to suffer persecution, but when Naomi’s town was overrun by Islamic terrorists, she was ready. Her church and the Bible had taught her well: “Persecution is God’s Word being fulfilled.” Naomi had already experienced suffering. When her husband died in 2009, her in-laws, who in Nigerian culture would be expected to help her and her five children, rejected her. With no other options, Naomi moved in with her parents in the town of Gwoza, in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state. Hoping to rebuild her life, she set about the work of providing for her family and educating her children, the youngest of whom was only 1 year old when his father died. Not long after their move to Gwoza, a violent Islamist organization began gaining power in the area, advancing its goal of “purifying” northern Nigeria for the sake of Islam. The Attack Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is forbidden” in the Hausa dialect, began waging an insurgency across northern Nigeria, targeting military installations, police stations, government buildings, churches and civilians, primarily in Borno state. By 2014, conflicts between Boko Haram and Nigerian security forces had become common as the insurgents fought for control of Borno
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In northern Nigeria, Christians are cautious with outreach to Muslims as thousands of Christians have been murdered by Islamists. “Many churches in northern Nigeria do not reach out to Muslims and are even reluctant to allow Muslim converts into their churches,” said a front-line worker. He added that while this kind of attitude should change, we should not judge them but “seek to understand the great amount of pressure they are under and pray for them. They are truly in the lion’s den.” For example, Fatima, a Muslim student, approached a Christian teacher, Jonathan, wanting to know more about Christ.
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Ibrahim Izang Aziobo tried to rescue as many Christians as he could during an attack by local Muslims. Although he lost his eyesight as a result, he gained a clear vision of how to love his enemies. At about 4 a.m. on the morning after a local election in Jos, Nigeria, Ibrahim awoke to someone banging on his apartment door. “They have come!” his niece cried out. “They have started!” The 2008 elections had been particularly divisive. Before results were even posted, members of the city’s predominantly Muslim Hausa-Fulani majority began protesting the Christian candidate’s expected win. Ibrahim jumped out of bed. He knew his niece’s warning meant Christians were under attack in the town where he was serving as an election worker. Thankfully, his wife, Ana, was safe at home in a different city. By the time Ibrahim came out of his room, his niece had already left and he noticed that the neighboring tenants were gone, too. Hearing gunfire, he looked around and saw people running away. Ibrahim, however, ran toward the gunfire to see the attackers for himself. “What I saw was dreadful,” he said. A parade of militant Islamic Fulani armed with sticks, machetes and guns
Read MoreA young Christian has fled his family after they beat and threatened him. Adnan grew up in a predominately Muslim area of northern Nigeria and loved to study the Quran. When he noticed contradictions between what he had been told about Jesus and what he read in the Quran, his teachers told him to stop asking questions. He then secretly visited a church where Christians welcomed him. He also enjoyed the music and the teaching. Later, he met privately with a pastor who answered his questions, and he placed his faith in Christ.
Read MoreA Christian, his wife and their newborn daughter were killed by members of the man’s former terrorist group. Moustafa was a prominent leader in the group, and one night he snuck into a Christian meeting, intending to cause trouble. But as a Christian woman shared about God’s coming judgment, his heart was touched, and he became a follower of Christ. When he told his terrorist group about his new faith, they tried to burn him to death. He survived for three months, visited by many Islamist friends who became followers of Christ through his witness.
Read MoreA Christian widow has been unable to support herself and her children as Islamists regularly destroy her crops. Islamist groups regularly attack villages in central and northern parts of the country, and attacks against Christian communities are especially violent, leaving behind many widows. Victoria Luka, a mother of five, lost her husband to an attack on Sept. 17, 2018, near Jos. Their village was destroyed and their house burnt to ash.
Read MoreNandi Tangkat, a 26-year-old mother of four, was widowed after her husband was killed by Islamic militants on May 16, 2023, near Jos, Nigeria. Nandi, pregnant at the time, was away when the militants attacked, but her husband, slowed by an injury that he had previously sustained to his legs, was unable to escape. Nandi’s pastor and many other Christians were also killed in the attack. She has been trying to work at tin mining sites, but work is rarely available and pays very little, so she is learning to sew.
Read MoreWhen Adamu Musa Ubandoma’s community realized that he had become a Christian, they attempted to burn him alive. He escaped, but burn marks are still visible on his head. His two daughters were then taken and given in marriage to Muslim men, and his wife was also kidnapped. All his belongings were burned and his cows confiscated. But Adamu says that nothing will separate him from the love of Christ. Before he placed his faith in Christ, he was a drug addict and a member of the Islamic militant group Boko Haram.
Read MoreAliyu Abubakar, 23, is a new Christian who has already suffered and escaped from persecution. He is a member of the Fulani, a nomadic people group across west and central Africa. Some Fulani groups are militant Muslims who attack Christian communities, and when Aliyu accepted Christ, he was locked in a room for days with little food to separate him from the friend who had brought him to Christ. He escaped by being smuggled from his village.
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