Nigeria: The Blood of the Martyrs is Being Spilled Again – And the World Must Not Look Away
Daniel JusticeShare
Across the rolling hills of Nigeria’s Middle Belt and the burning villages of the northeast, a genocide is unfolding in slow motion. Churches are torched while worshippers are still inside. Pastors are beheaded in front of their congregations. Entire Christian communities are given the ultimatum: convert, flee, or die. In the first ten months of 2025 alone, more than 7,000 Nigerian believers have been slaughtered for one reason: they bear the name of Jesus Christ.This is not a “farmer-herder clash.” This is not “banditry.” This is jihad.
Fulani militants, armed with AK-47s and machetes, ride into Christian villages shouting “Allahu Akbar” as they butcher men, women, and children. Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa film themselves executing Christians on their knees, then upload the videos as trophies. In Benue State this summer, over 200 believers were massacred in a single night. Hours after President Trump redesignated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern, jihadists struck again, killing 17 more.These are not statistics. These are our brothers and sisters.
They are the widow clutching her dead husband’s Bible. They are the little girl who watched her father burned alive because he refused to deny Christ. They are the pastor who texted his wife “I love you” moments before the blade fell.The Nigerian government has failed to protect them. In many cases, security forces stand aside while the killing happens. In others, they actively arrest the victims for “provoking” their attackers. Blasphemy laws in twelve northern states still sentence Christians to death for “insulting Islam.” Impunity is total. The blood of the innocent cries out, and heaven is listening.Yet in the darkness, something astonishing is happening.
Survivors are not cursing God, they are praising Him. Displaced believers are holding open-air services under trees, singing louder than ever. One attacked village in Plateau State rebuilt their church in seven days and filled it again the next Sunday. When the world asks, “Where is your God?” they answer with the words of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us… but even if He does not, we will not bow.”This is the faith that shook the Roman Empire. This is the faith that is shaking Nigeria today.The Church in the West can no longer afford silence.
We are called to remember those in chains as if chained with them (Hebrews 13:3). That is not a suggestion; it is a command.What you must do right now:
Jesus Christ is still Lord.
The gates of hell cannot prevail against His Church. Every martyr’s crown laid at His feet only hastens the day when He returns as King of kings to make all things new.Even now, Nigerian believers are falling asleep in the dust of their villages and waking up in the arms of the Savior they refused to deny. They are not lost. They are not defeated. They are more alive than we are.“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” (Psalm 116:15)So we do not weep as those who have no hope. We weep, we fight, we pray, we give, and then we lift our eyes to the One who sits on the throne and to the Lamb who was slain, knowing that the final chapter has already been written.The blood of the Nigerian martyrs is seed.
And one day soon, that seed will burst into a harvest that will cover the earth.Until then, Church, on your knees, then on your feet.
The King is watching.
The cloud of witnesses is cheering.
And Nigeria’s suffering saints are waiting for us to stand with them.Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus.
Fulani militants, armed with AK-47s and machetes, ride into Christian villages shouting “Allahu Akbar” as they butcher men, women, and children. Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa film themselves executing Christians on their knees, then upload the videos as trophies. In Benue State this summer, over 200 believers were massacred in a single night. Hours after President Trump redesignated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern, jihadists struck again, killing 17 more.These are not statistics. These are our brothers and sisters.
They are the widow clutching her dead husband’s Bible. They are the little girl who watched her father burned alive because he refused to deny Christ. They are the pastor who texted his wife “I love you” moments before the blade fell.The Nigerian government has failed to protect them. In many cases, security forces stand aside while the killing happens. In others, they actively arrest the victims for “provoking” their attackers. Blasphemy laws in twelve northern states still sentence Christians to death for “insulting Islam.” Impunity is total. The blood of the innocent cries out, and heaven is listening.Yet in the darkness, something astonishing is happening.
Survivors are not cursing God, they are praising Him. Displaced believers are holding open-air services under trees, singing louder than ever. One attacked village in Plateau State rebuilt their church in seven days and filled it again the next Sunday. When the world asks, “Where is your God?” they answer with the words of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us… but even if He does not, we will not bow.”This is the faith that shook the Roman Empire. This is the faith that is shaking Nigeria today.The Church in the West can no longer afford silence.
We are called to remember those in chains as if chained with them (Hebrews 13:3). That is not a suggestion; it is a command.What you must do right now:
- Pray without ceasing.
Pray for the terrorists to be stopped, for the government to repent, for the persecuted church to stand firm. Pray that the same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead would raise up deliverance for Nigeria. Set an alarm on your phone for daily intercession. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man still avails much. - Speak up.
Call your representatives. Demand that the United States use every lever, sanctions, arms embargoes, asylum pathways, to force Nigeria to protect its Christians or face real consequences. Silence in the face of genocide is complicity. - Give.
Ministries on the ground, Open Doors, International Christian Concern, Aid to the Church in Need, Barnabas Fund, are providing trauma care, food, and rebuilding materials. Your gift today literally saves lives. - Prepare your own heart.
The same spirit of antichrist that murders our family in Nigeria is already at work in the West. Will we be ready when the test comes to us?
Jesus Christ is still Lord.
The gates of hell cannot prevail against His Church. Every martyr’s crown laid at His feet only hastens the day when He returns as King of kings to make all things new.Even now, Nigerian believers are falling asleep in the dust of their villages and waking up in the arms of the Savior they refused to deny. They are not lost. They are not defeated. They are more alive than we are.“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” (Psalm 116:15)So we do not weep as those who have no hope. We weep, we fight, we pray, we give, and then we lift our eyes to the One who sits on the throne and to the Lamb who was slain, knowing that the final chapter has already been written.The blood of the Nigerian martyrs is seed.
And one day soon, that seed will burst into a harvest that will cover the earth.Until then, Church, on your knees, then on your feet.
The King is watching.
The cloud of witnesses is cheering.
And Nigeria’s suffering saints are waiting for us to stand with them.Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus.