'Nearly 400,000,000 Christians Worldwide Face Persecution or Violence': Extremist Persecution of Christians, March 2026

'Nearly 400,000,000 Christians Worldwide Face Persecution or Violence': Extremist Persecution of Christians, March 2026

Raymond Ibrahim

• Boko Haram still seeks to impose strict sharia law across Nigeria and routinely targets Christians. — Morning Star News, April 2, 2026,Nigeria.

• The ADF's [Allied Democratic Forces] "purpose is to gain a foothold in the nation, establish Sharia law in areas it controls, and kill non-Muslims." — International Christian Concern, March 13, 2026, Democratic Republic of Congo.

• "Only Muslims are the real living human beings; all non-Muslims are corpses ... whoever is not a Muslim is equivalent to a dead body." — Musa Baluku, leader of the ADF, International Christian Concern, March 13, 2026, Democratic Republic of Congo.

• On March 26, police in Lahore's Sadhoki Kahna Nau area, tortured to death 42-year-old Christian Iftikhar Masih while in custody. Police arrested Iftikhar on fabricated kidnapping charges, demanded a 200,000 Pakistani rupee ($720) bribe for his release, and later claimed he committed suicide by hanging. — Morning Star News, April 7, 2026, Pakistan.

• "'Abraham,' a member of the Coptic community... said the main goal of these kidnappings 'is to reduce the Christian population and promote Islam by pretending that the woman chose Islam on her own free will.... They end up as Muslim wives by force.' He is not aware of any prosecutions against the kidnappers. 'Authorities are complicit, because they often do very little or nothing.'" — International Christian Concern, March 18, 2026, Egypt.

• On March 25, Pakistan's Federal Constitutional Court ruled that 13-year-old Christian girl Maria Shahbaz must remain with the Muslim man who abducted and forcibly converted her. Despite her parent's testimony, the court declared Maria was of "mature age," accepted her conversion to Islam as genuine, and ruled that her marriage is valid under Islamic law. Maria's father, Shahbaz Masih, told the court she was only 12 or 13 when taken and presented documents to prove her age. The judges rejected the documents, claiming her appearance suggested she was older. The court stated that in Islam, conversion requires only a declaration of faith. — International Christian Concern, April 6, 2026, Pakistan.

• "Nearly 400 million Christians worldwide face persecution or violence..." — Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, March 3, 2026.

• "Msgr. Balestrero also warned that persecution does not always take the overt and bloody form of murder, attacks, or physical violence. There are also 'more subtle and often silent forms of persecution,' such as gradual marginalization or exclusion from social and professional life, 'even in traditionally Christian countries.... through which legal norms and administrative practices restrict or, in effect, nullify the legally recognized rights of the predominantly Christian population, even in some parts of Europe....' The oppression of Christians does not stem solely from violent mobs or extremist groups, but also from institutional mechanisms that undermine, in practice, the very rights that are officially declared protected." — fsspx.news, March 10, 2026.

  
  

  The Muslim Slaughter of Christians

  Nigeria: According to a March 17 report, suspected Fulani herdsmen attacked Dorowa Maitozo village in Kaduna State. The Muslim bandits killed Rev. Joshua Ajiya, pastor of the Evangelical Reformed Church of Christ, who had served the congregation for only two months. Dozens of other Christians were kidnapped in the nighttime attack.

  On March 11, suspected Fulani terrorists attacked Oyatedo village in Kwara State. They killed John Omoniyi Ajise, brother of a prominent pastor, and abducted his wife and four other Christians.

  On March 29, armed gunmen attacked the predominantly Christian Angwan Rukuba area (Gari Ya Waye community) in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria.

  The attackers shot indiscriminately, killing at least 28 people, including men, women, and children. Survivor Samson Glabe said: "Armed gunmen invaded the area at about 8 p.m. and shot indiscriminately at anyone they sighted." Gospel singer Arin Izere added: "Within seconds... we heard gunshots, they were shooting at anyone in sight. Many have been killed." The attack occurred in a densely populated Christian area of Jos.

  On Palm Sunday, March 30, armed Fulani militia and Boko Haram-linked gunmen carried out coordinated attacks on Christian communities in Plateau and Kaduna states. In Ungwan Rukuba, Jos North LGA (Plateau State), gunmen killed at least 30 Christians. Additional attacks in nearby areas of Plateau State killed at least 10 more. In Kagarko County, Kaduna State, Fulani opened fire indiscriminately inside the celebratory hall and killed 13 Christians. Community leader Musa Adamu said:

  "The attackers, who we know to be Fulani herdsmen, invaded our community in large numbers. They were armed with deadly weapons which they used in shooting indiscriminately at our people inside the hall where the wedding reception was held; 13 community members who are Christians were killed."

  On Palm Sunday, March 30, armed Fulani militia and Boko Haram-linked gunmen carried out coordinated attacks on Christian communities in Plateau and Kaduna states. In Ungwan Rukuba, Jos North LGA (Plateau State), gunmen killed at least 30 Christians. Additional attacks in nearby areas of Plateau State killed at least 10 more. In Kagarko County, Kaduna State, Fulani opened fire indiscriminately inside the celebratory hall and killed 13 Christians. Community leader Musa Adamu said:

  "The attackers, who we know to be Fulani herdsmen, invaded our community in large numbers. They were armed with deadly weapons which they used in shooting indiscriminately at our people inside the hall where the wedding reception was held; 13 community members who are Christians were killed."