Don't Ignore Horrifying Attacks on African Christians: Niger's Silent Slaughter

Niger, West Africa — Christians in Niger face escalating persecution from Islamic extremist groups operating across the Sahel region, with violence dramatically worsening following the July 2023 military coup that brought General Abdourahamane Tiani to power.

The jihadist group al-Sunnah wa Jama'ah (ASWJ), along with Islamic State affiliates including Islamic State-Sahel Province (ISSP) and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), have made life increasingly dangerous for Christians throughout Niger. In areas under militant control, church services and Christian gatherings are conducted under constant threat of violence or attack.

In mid-August 2025, Islamic militants stormed two churches in a village near the Niger-Burkina Faso border. Christians living in this border region face severe pressure from Islamic extremist groups, including the Islamic State, that are active throughout the area. Some churches have been forced to close entirely, and believers live in constant fear, with many fleeing their homes due to growing insecurity.

The presence of radical Islamist groups has led to frequent attacks and kidnappings, significantly limiting the freedom and safety of Christians. There has been a substantial rise in attacks on Christian property, including churches, schools, and healthcare centers across Niger.

Following the 2023 coup that overthrew President Mahmoud Bazoum, fatalities linked to militant Islamist violence have quadrupled to 1,655 deaths. The military junta government remains in turmoil, leading to widespread insecurity and lawlessness that allows Islamist insurgents to gain power and influence.

Christians who convert from Islam face particularly severe persecution, including rejection from families, house arrest, forced marriage, sexual abuse, divorce, separation from children, and disinheritance. One widow named Hakuri witnessed Islamic extremists with ties to the Islamic State attack her village, deliberately targeting men for execution. "When the huts started burning, people came out and started running, and that is when the jihadists started shooting at the men," she recounted. Her husband was killed in the attack, leaving her displaced with her children and mother-in-law.

Ryan Brown, CEO of Open Doors US, describes the situation as jihadist groups creating "a regional corridor of violence" targeting religious minorities across the Sahel. Open Doors has been working in Niger since 2011 through local partners to provide economic empowerment programs, persecution preparedness training, trauma care for attack survivors, and support for displaced families.

The Sahel region, which includes Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Mali, now experiences terrorism levels higher than anywhere else in the world, with Christians regularly targeted for their faith.

THE CRUSADER'S OPINION

Your brother in Christ writes from Niger, and the world yawns.

While the global Church obsesses over culture wars in comfortable Western nations, African Christians are being hunted, burned alive, and systematically erased by Islamic militants. Niger's Christians don't need another awareness campaign. They need the world to wake up and act before there are no Christians left to save.

Since the 2023 coup, Islamist violence in Niger has quadrupled. Not doubled. Quadrupled. Islamic State affiliates roam freely, attacking churches, executing men, and displacing entire Christian communities. And what does the international community do? Practically nothing. No sanctions. No military intervention. Just thoughts, prayers, and another forgotten news story.

This is Africa's Christian genocide in slow motion. The Sahel has become a jihadi playground where Islamic militants create entire "corridors of violence" specifically designed to eliminate Christian presence. They don't hide their intentions. They storm churches shouting "Allahu Akbar" and burn Christian villages to ash. The religious motivation couldn't be clearer.

Western Christians sit in their climate-controlled sanctuaries debating worship styles while their African brothers and sisters debate whether attending Sunday service is worth dying for. The disconnect is obscene. If Islamic militants stormed churches in Paris or New York the way they do in Niger, it would dominate headlines for months. But because it's Africa, because the victims are poor and Black and far away, the slaughter continues in near-total silence.

Niger's coup government can't protect Christians. Won't protect Christians. Islamic militants operate with complete impunity while the international community issues carefully worded statements about "complex security situations." There's nothing complex about jihadists burning churches. It's persecution. It's evil. And it demands a response that matches its brutality.

The widow Hakuri watched her husband executed by Islamic State militants. She's raising her children in a Muslim's rented room, displaced and destitute, yet her faith hasn't wavered. "I will not say that God has rejected me," she says. "But I can say that I am paying the price of following Jesus."

African Christians are paying that price in blood while we pay it in nothing. Their courage shames our comfortable indifference.

TAKE ACTION

Open Doors USA
Website: https://www.opendoorsus.org/en-US/persecution/countries/niger
Direct support for persecuted Christians in Niger through economic empowerment, trauma care, and persecution survival training

International Christian Concern
Website: https://www.persecution.org
Email: [email protected]
Advocacy and direct aid for persecuted Christians across the Sahel region including Niger

Aid to the Church in Need
Website: https://www.churchinneed.org
Provides emergency relief, rebuilding assistance, and pastoral support for Christians in persecution zones

Christian Solidarity Worldwide
Website: https://www.csw.org.uk
Email: [email protected]
Advocates for religious freedom and supports persecuted Christians in West Africa