Across Nigeria, Islamists are driving Christians from their homes, destroying churches and devastating communities. Yet amid terrible suffering, our brothers and sisters continue to stand firm. Thanks to you, Barnabas Aid is standing alongside them with food, medical care and other practical support, reminding them that they are not forgotten.
“May God bless you,” said wheelchair-bound Ruth as she and her children collected Barnabas-funded food in Benue State. “Yesterday I slept hungry with my family, but today we have lots of food. I am very grateful” 
All she could hear was shooting, shouting and screaming as Islamist militants invaded her village in north-east Nigeria.
It wasn’t the first time Boko Haram terrorists had attacked the community, but Nancy was terrified as she tried to protect her children and the unborn baby she was carrying.
All too soon, the village was overrun.
“My husband was slaughtered in front of my children and me,” Nancy recalls.
“When they left, we just covered him in sand and leaves and ran for our lives. I gave birth on the road during our escape.”
Nancy’s story is horrifying, but sadly it is not unique. Across Nigeria’s Middle Belt and north-east, Christian communities have endured years of killings, kidnappings, raids, the destruction of homes and livelihoods and the occupation of their ancestral lands.
In the north-east, communities are terrorised by both Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province. In the Middle Belt, the principal perpetrators are Fulani Islamists whose targeted attacks have devastated Christian farming communities.
Christians in Nigeria enduring “faith-based persecution”
In 2026 research from the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa indicated that nearly 19,000 Nigerian Christians were killed by Islamists between October 2019 and September 2025. The true figure could be even higher.
The report concluded that Christians are more than four times as likely as Muslims to be victims of terrorist violence.
Families collect their portion of Barnabas-funded food aid, including rice, beans and cooking oil, which had been stacked neatly in rows at a distribution point in Borno State
The result is a relentless cycle of fear and displacement among Christian communities.
“This is not merely a communal conflict,” Pastor John Joseph Hayab, Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria Northern Region, told Barnabas Aid supporters at our Encourage meeting in London in June 2026. “Christians are targeted specifically because of their faith.”
He emphasised, “This is faith-based persecution and naming it truthfully matters.”
How you are helping persecuted Nigerian Christians
In response to this persecution, you have provided a range of assistance to your brothers and sisters in Christ.
In the five months between December 2025 and April 2026, food funded by Barnabas was distributed to at least 6,000 families (around 30,000 individuals) affected by violence across Nigeria’s Middle Belt and north-east, including in the states of Plateau, Borno, Ondo, Kaduna and Benue.
Pastor Gideon Daniel at a food distribution in Plateau State. He was away the day his village was attacked and return to find the bodies of his pregnant wife and six children. “Every member of my family had been killed,” he said. “Only I remained”
Many of the beneficiaries live in overcrowded camps for internally displaced people (IDPs), where food and clean water is scarce, and living conditions are described by our project partners as dire.
A pastor in one of the IDP camps said the food provided more than just nourishment.
Read more: Nineteen thousand Nigerian Christians killed by Islamists in just six years
“It has given them hope,” he said. “Many families here are tired and discouraged, but the support from Barnabas Aid reminded us that God is still with us. The unity, joy and renewed faith we have seen in the distribution will remain with our people for a long time.”
His words were echoed by a Christian mother in the camp. “When my husband was killed, I lost everything. My home, my farm, and my hope.
“Many days my children and I slept without food. When Barnabas brought this food relief, it felt like God had remembered us again.
“I thank God and the team for standing with us in our suffering.”
Medical care and improved security
In Plateau State, Barnabas Aid supporters have funded a Christian ministry providing free medical care, trauma support and discipleship to victims of violence.
Its hospital treats an average of 1,000 patients each month, with more than 100 babies delivered safely in the maternity unit between January and June 2026.
“Many [patients] arrive with no family support, no resources, and severe medical needs caused by violence or mistreatment,” explained our project partners.
Christians injured in Islamist attacks can receive free treatment at a Plateau State hospital supported by Barnabas Aid
Health centres are also among the schools and churches that have benefitted from Barnabas Aid’s continuing solar panel installation programme in communities that have suffered from attacks.
The panels provide a reliable source of electricity to replace ageing and unreliable diesel generators that were expensive to run.
The panels power mobile phones, enabling villagers to call for help in times of danger, and at nighttime they provide lighting for extra security – and for the community to meet for Bible studies.
Schools in areas at risk of attack have also benefitted from improved security, while funding delivered in 2026 has enabled 40 students from impoverished families affected by the kidnapping of 120 pupils from Bethel Baptist Church School, Kaduna State, in 2021 to continue their education.
These are some examples of how you are helping and reminding Christians that they have not been forgotten.
How you can pray
Praise God for the opportunity to help and support our suffering and persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ. Pray that this aid will be a spiritual encouragement to them, reminding them that they are not forgotten by their Lord or by His Church. Ask for better security measures to protect Christians and other victims of violent terrorism.
39-772 (Victims of violence in Nigeria)
