Not on Our Watch

Nigeria’s Cry, the Failure of Coexist, and the Duty of the Church.

“If one member suffers, all suffer together.”

1 Corinthians 12:26

A fresh wound: Barkin Ladi, Plateau State (October 14, 2025)

On Tuesday night, October 14, 2025, gunmen struck the Rachas (Heipang) and Rawuru (Fan) communities in Barkin Ladi, Plateau State. Local officials confirm 13 people were killed, and a mass burial followed the next day. The council chairman called the assaults “unprovoked”; witnesses identified the attackers as armed herders operating as militias. Multiple outlets—local and international—corroborate the details.

Christian advocacy groups on the ground identified the villages as Christian communities and reported children among the dead.

This is not an isolated headline. Christians are being persecuted by Islamic militia groups right now in Nigeria.

Coffins are prepared for burial during a funeral service for 17 worshippers and two priests, who were allegedly killed by Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria.

PART I — THE FACTS

1) A pattern of targeted slaughter and intimidation

• Plateau Christmas massacres (Dec. 23–25, 2023): between 140 and ~200 people were killed in coordinated attacks across Bokkos, Barkin Ladi and nearby communities. Survivors and officials described villages burned and a delayed security response.

• Benue State (May 2025): 42 people were killed across four Christian communities; a Catholic priest was critically injured.

• Owo Church massacre (June 5, 2022): more than 50 worshipers died during Pentecost Mass; after years of delays, five suspects were finally arraigned on Aug. 11, 2025 in Abuja under terrorism charges.

• Abductions of clergy: Fr. Alphonsus Afina was kidnapped by Boko Haram on June 1, 2025 and held 51 days before release—one of many clergy targeted in recent years.

2) Who is attacking Christians?

Nigeria faces overlapping threats that repeatedly fall on Christian communities:

• Jihadist groups (Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa/ISWAP) openly target churches, priests, and Christian villages—especially in the northeast.

• In the Middle Belt (Plateau, Benue, Kaduna, Taraba), armed herder militias and allied criminal bands, using the cover of Sharia Law (Islam), conduct night raids that often hit predominantly Christian farming communities. The Oct. 14, 2025 killings in Barkin Ladi fit this pattern.

Key point for Christians:

Whatever other dynamics exist (land, cattle, climate), explicitly anti‑Christian brutality is very real and documented. That’s why organizations like Open Doors consistently rank Nigeria among the deadliest places to follow Jesus and report it as the country with the most Christians killed and kidnapped in recent reporting years.

3) Sharia law in northern Nigeria: what it is, and why it matters for persecution

Beginning in 1999–2001, 12 northern states expanded Sharia into criminal law (made it legally binding), erecting Sharia courts and, in several states, hisbah religious‑police structures. Human Rights Watch, the U.S. State Department, and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) have long documented floggings, amputations, blasphemy prosecutions, and social intimidation in this system.

• Blasphemy & mob justice: The 2012–present blasphemy regime has fostered vigilante violence. The most infamous recent case: Deborah Samuel Yakubu, a Christian student lynched on May 12, 2022 after classmates accused her of blasphemy; suspects were charged only with “public disturbance,” and no accountability followed.

• Death sentence for speech: In Sept. 2025, Nigeria’s Supreme Court allowed a late appeal for Yahaya Sharif‑Aminu, a musician sentenced to death by a Kano Sharia court for “blasphemy,” potentially opening a path to overturn such penalties.

Why this matters for Christians:

When government‑backed Sharia law or tolerated Islamic mob rule punishes “blasphemy,” that is Satan gaining ground. The church can’t obey the Great Commission if telling the truth about Jesus is a capital crime.

4) “Is it genocide?”

Major outlets and conflict datasets stress that Nigeria’s violence is complex and kills many “disobedient” Muslims as well—especially in the far north—even as targeted anti‑Christian attacks remain grievously common. Christians should know both realities; neither cancels the other.

I’m not qualified to determine whether to call it genocide or not. I can, however, tell you that it is absolutely called persecution, and our Christian brothers and sisters who are dying are being martyred.

5) What do credible monitors say?

• USCIRF (2025): recommends the U.S. re‑designate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC), citing blasphemy laws in 12 states, impunity for attackers, and the state’s failure to protect religious communities.

• Open Doors (2024–25): Nigeria leads the world in the number of Christians killed and kidnapped for their faith.

• European Parliament (2024) condemned the Plateau Christmas massacres and the wider pattern.

Bottom line so far: Christians in Nigeria are being persecuted. They are being killed, kidnapped, and terrorized at staggering rates; Islamic Sharia‑based and mob‑enforced blasphemy norms in the north worsen the climate; and justice is very rarely served.

PART II — THE FIRE

6) Why this isn’t just wrong, but evil.

• The Bride of Christ is being assaulted. Churches blasted, pastors abducted, families burned out of their homes—this is an assault on the imago Dei and the Bride of Christ. Owo 2022, Plateau 2023, Barkin Ladi 2025—we need to be partnering in prayer and support with these places.

• Coercive theocracy crushes conscience. When “blasphemy” brings angry mobs and death sentences, faith becomes fear, and evangelism becomes a felony. Deborah Samuel is a martyr of that climate.

• Impunity invites repetition. Where the sword replaces law, evil recycles. USCIRF’s warnings are not “politics,” they’re reality.

7) Why the COEXIST bumper sticker doesn’t work for Christians

Let’s be blunt and biblical.

a) Truth is not a truce. “Coexist” as a slogan asks ultimate claims to stop being ultimate. But Jesus is Lord, not one option on a comparative‑religion shelf. The Great Commission is go and make disciples of all nations, not coddle contradictions until nobody minds. (Matthew 28:18–20)

b) Love your neighbor ≠ affirm his creed. Christian love is sacrificial and honest. We bless and serve Muslim neighbors (and all neighbors) precisely while rejecting any theology—or legal system—that denies Christ and coerces conscience. That isn’t hate, that’s fidelity.

8) A Christian critique of Sharia

Christians can and must rebuke Islamic laws and any other ideologies that criminalize Christianity, belief and speech. In northern Nigeria, the Sharia criminal codes, hisbah policing, and blasphemy regimes have produced floggings, amputations, death sentences, and mob violence—pretty much a death sentence to evangelism and even ordinary public Christian life. This is morally evil and politically poisonous to a free society.

Our quarrel is not with ordinary Muslims as people, it’s with the religion and practice of Islamism. Scripture commands both truth‑telling and neighbor‑love. We will do both.

9) Great Britain — Accuracy, and the real lesson

No, the United Kingdom has not adopted Sharia as state law. But Sharia councils do operate in family‑law contexts by private consent, and the UK’s independent review raised real concerns (especially for women). There have also been isolated “Sharia patrol” vigilantes who were prosecuted and jailed—a warning about how theocratic impulses behave in plural societies. The lesson for Christians is clear: do not normalize parallel legalism that undermines one law for all, and oppose any blasphemy norms sneaking into the public square.

10) What should Christians do right now?

Pray, specifically.

• For protection and justice in Plateau, Benue, Kaduna, Taraba; comfort for the families of Barkin Ladi (Oct. 14).

• For the release of the abducted and courage for the clergy who remain in risky fields.

• For repentance among the violent and revival in the hardest places.

• For bold witnesses who preach Christ even where blasphemy codes threaten them.

• For all Muslims to repent and turn to Christ alone as Lord and Savior.

Tell the truth, loudly and accurately.

• Share verified reports of Barkin Ladi (Oct. 14, 2025) and the Plateau 2023 massacres. Cite outlets your friends recognize. Accuracy is your ally.

Press policymakers, with receipts.

• Urge U.S. leaders to follow USCIRF’s 2025 recommendation and re‑designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), linking it to targeted sanctions and security‑sector reform tied to measurable results.

Fund the front lines.

• Support trusted ministries that rebuild burned villages, care for widows and orphans, provide trauma care, and defend prisoners of conscience (e.g., Open Doors, Aid to the Church in Need, International Christian Concern).

Pastor your people for clarity and courage.

• Teach a short class on Islam, Sharia & conscience (what it is, where it operates, why Christians oppose it).

• Preach the gospel’s exclusivity and the commandment of neighbor‑love—simultaneously.

• Pray by name for Nigerian Christians and congregations; host a service of lament.

• Partner with Nigerian believers in your city; invite testimonies; be ready to help.

Hold the line in our own culture.

• Spiritually resist Islamism as “okay.”

• Oppose any and all actions and laws that endorse torture, lying or murder.

Learn. These. Stats. (latest 12‑month reporting window)

Reporting window (for Open Doors/WWL 2025): Oct 1, 2023 → Sep 30, 2024.

Lethal violence against Christians (Open Doors)

• Christians killed: 3,100 (WWL 2025). Average ≈ 8.5/day over 366 days.

• Prior period: 4,118 (WWL 2024) → ≈ 11.3/day (365‑day period).

• Share of global Christian killings: ~69% of worldwide total (4,476) occurred in Nigeria in this period.

Non‑lethal abuse & intimidation (Open Doors)

• Christians abducted: 2,830 → ≈ 7.7/day.

• Detained for faith‑related reasons: 31.

• Sentenced/jail/psychiatric punishment: 10* (symbolic figure—see note).

• Rape/sexual harassment (faith‑related): 1,000* (symbolic figure—see note).

Attacks on churches & Christian properties (Open Doors)

• WWL 2025 period: 100* church/properties attacked/looted/destroyed/closed/confiscated.

• WWL 2024 period: 750 (≈ 2.05/day).

Note on “*” figures: Open Doors uses symbolic numbers (e.g., 10*, 100*, 1,000*) when exact counts aren’t possible; treat them as conservative order‑of‑magnitude minimums.

Country ranking (Open Doors)

Nigeria rank: #7 on WWL 2025; violence score: 16.7/16.7 (max).

Displacement (all causes; whole population)

• People internally displaced in Nigeria (end‑2024): ~3.5 million IDPs (UNHCR).

• New conflict/violence displacement movements in 2024: ~295,000 (IDMC).

“Alternate lens” (event‑coded attacks by religious identity)

ACLED‑coded attacks explicitly targeting “Christians,” 2020–Sep 2025: 385 attacks, 317 deaths (AP analysis of ACLED data). (This dataset only counts incidents where religion is explicitly reported as a factor; it will miss many killings Open Doors classifies as faith‑related.)

Quick Facts to share with friends

• ≈ 8–9 Christians are killed every day in Nigeria for faith‑related reasons in the WWL‑2025 window (3,100/366).

• ≈ 8 Christians abducted every day (2,830/366).

• ~7 in 10 Christian killings worldwide happened in Nigeria during the same period.

Words for weary hearts

Church, we are not called to be neutral between Christ and any creed that denies Him or criminalizes His gospel. We are called to love our enemies and rebuke evil. We open our homes to people, but we refuse to open our pulpits or our laws to coercive theocracy. The cross compels both compassion and clarity.

So we will pray. We will speak. We will give. We will advocate. And we will not apologize for being pro‑Christian in a moment when the body of Christ is under the boot.

A prayer:

Lord Jesus, defend Your church in Nigeria. Break the arm of violence against your people. Heal the wounded. Comfort the bereaved. Give courage to pastors, wisdom to officials, repentance to the wicked. Raise up Your Church, oh God, and may it start with me. Grant Your people here the courage to speak, to give, to go. Amen.