By Sardar Mushtaq Gill, Founder of LEAD Ministries – January 12, 2026 –Reports say that Christians in Africa, particularly in Nigeria, are facing a wave of targeted attacks by Islamist militant groups, including the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Faith leaders and human rights organizations are urging the global community to act urgently as violence escalates.
The latest tragedy occurred at Daji Market in Niger State, Nigeria, where reports indicate that over 30 people were massacred. Gunmen on motorcycles reportedly stormed the market, opening fire, torching stalls, and abducting women and children. Eyewitnesses said that many of the victims were Christians, and survivors described chaotic scenes as families fled through smoke and flames.
It strongly condemns this massacre. Christians are under systematic attack in regions plagued by militant Islamist violence. Reports show that entire communities are being annihilated for their faith. The world cannot remain silent. Silence is complicity.
Reports say that the Daji Market massacre is part of a wider pattern of attacks in northeastern Nigeria. On December 25, ISWAP reportedly killed multiple Christians in the village of Mondag, destroying a church and nearly 100 homes. The following day, Timboa was attacked, leaving four Christians dead, five abducted, and around 50 homes burned. Reports indicate that ISWAP publicly declared Christians could only survive by converting to Islam or paying the jizya tax, a levy historically imposed on non-Muslims.
President Trump reportedly reacted to the escalating violence by pledging U.S. military action. On Christmas Day, U.S. forces, in cooperation with Nigerian authorities, reportedly conducted airstrikes against ISIL positions in northwest Nigeria. President Trump reportedly stated on Truth Social: “Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria.”
While President Trump’s narrative has gained traction among right-wing and evangelical groups, the Nigerian government reportedly rejected claims of targeted Christian genocide, noting that Muslims constitute the majority of victims of armed group attacks. Nevertheless, church leaders emphasize that attacks on Christians remain part of a broader and persistent pattern of Islamist militant violence across Nigeria’s northeast.
Reports indicate that ISWAP derives its power from ideological extremism, sophisticated propaganda, exploitation of weak governance, and terror tactics used to dominate vulnerable communities. Analysts warn that militants often operate where state authority is absent, allowing violence against Christians and other minorities to continue unchecked.
International human rights organizations and faith leaders are calling on the global community to act decisively by exposing the systematic persecution of Christians, providing humanitarian aid and protection programs, holding accountable those who enable or tolerate militant violence, and upholding religious freedom as a non-negotiable human right—so that Christians and other minorities can live without fear of violence, displacement, or forced conversion.
Reports say that the massacres at Daji Market, Mondag, and Timboa underscore the urgent need for global action. It warns the international community: the world must speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. Christians are not just victims of violence—they are witnesses to a deliberate campaign against religious freedom. Every voice counts. Every action matters. Silence is deadly.
#ChristianPersecution #ReligiousFreedom #StopIslamistViolence #ISWAP #Nigeria #FaithUnderFire #GlobalChristianAdvocacy #ProtectChristians #DajiMarketMassacre #LEADMinistries
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