Friday, June 6, 2025

Iranian refugees receive a six-month extension in Panama

 

Artemis Ghasemzadeh, a 27-year-old Iranian woman, and other Christian asylum seekers in Panama were given a six-month extension this week to find a new home. 
Ghasemzadeh is in a Panama City hotel with two Christian families from Iran. They were first given 30 days to stay in Panama, then a two-month reprieve until June 7, and now a six-month extension to find a haven. 
Ghasemzadeh’s journey began in late December 2024 when she and her older brother, Shahin, fled Iran and entered the United States illegally through Mexico. Refugees fleeing religious persecution have traditionally been granted asylum on American soil, but they faced more stringent border and refugee laws under the Trump administration. 
The siblings were detained for five days in San Diego and then separated: Ghasemzadeh was flown to Panama with other refugees, and Shahin to a Houston detention facility where he still awaits his immigration hearing. 
International Christian Concern (ICC), nonprofits, government agencies such as the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), and Christians globally have been following their case, praying and advocating for them since The New York Times broke their story in February. 
The Iranian believers will face extreme persecution if returned to Iran. ICC sent an emergency petition on Ghasemzadeh’s behalf, signed by 1,302 people, to 10 refugee-friendly Western countries, including Germany, Spain, France, and Italy. 
Their case also caught the attention of U.S. Rep. (D-Ariz) Yassamin Ansari, an Iranian American, who introduced the Artemis Act in Congress. The bill would stop the expedited removal of refugees fleeing countries known to persecute Christians and other religious minorities. Under the law, the refugees could claim asylum in a U.S. immigration court. 
Armenian, Assyrian, and Catholic communities exist in Iran. Yet, like other Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and beyond, Iran has strict anti-conversion laws that are punishable by imprisonment or death. Ghasemzadeh and Christian converts worshipped as part of Iran's growing underground church community. 
“In Iran, being a Christian when you’re born is OK,” Ghasemzadeh told ICC in a previous interview. “There are even beautiful churches. But if you’re a Muslim and you convert to Christianity, it’s a problem. The police want to catch you because it’s not good for [the country].” 
To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Wednesday, June 4, 2025

Islamic extremism permeates throughout Nigeria's security forces

 

It seems the frequency of jihadist attacks in Nigeria is matched only by the infrequency of successful prosecutions against the perpetrators. And even when these attacks take place near military bases, the response times are disturbingly slow.
Many Nigerian Christians feel this chronic cycle of violence and impunity is all by design, and that their country has people in high places who have a vested interest in letting the cycle continue. 
Emeka Umeagbalasi, a criminologist who established the Nigerian human rights organization Intersociety, did not hesitate to place blame. 
“The Nigerian security forces, especially the military and police crack squads (special operations units), are the greatest problem facing the country's Christians,” he said.   
Umeagbalasi said that the last 10 years have seen a large rise in Islamic radicalization within Nigeria's military and “jihadists conscripted through the back door into the country's security forces.”   
Other concerned Nigerians have spoken out about federal government efforts to “reintegrate” self-described “repentant” jihadists. There are concerns that these allegedly former jihadists are finding their way into the nation's security agencies.  
Umeagbalasi said that such problems became widespread during the presidency of Muhammadu Buhari, who held Nigeria's top office from May 29, 2015, to May 29, 2023.  
Buhari, the son of a Fulani chieftain, is a retired army major general who also served as head of state in the mid-1980s when Nigeria was under a military dictatorship. 
Umeagbalasi said that Buhari's recent presidential tenure saw increased Fulani jihadist access to state armories. He added that many attackers in Nigeria derive significant benefits from “international jihadist support funds.” 
Since the 1980s, Fulanis who have obtained wealth in the cattle industry have been supplying their fellow tribesmen with numerous AK-47 assault rifles. 
Nigerian civilians are technically permitted to own certain types of firearms, but the requirements are stringent and subject to the discretion of officials.  
Umeagbalasi said the laws are “observed lopsidedly” in a way that discriminates against Christians and empowers their attackers. He added that the Nigerian military has raided Christian homes across much of the country and “seized most, if not all,” of their weapons, thereby depriving them of any real chance at self-defense.  
Christians in Nigeria are almost always woefully outgunned by their attackers, wherever those attackers may come from.  
Although “Boko Haram” is a name that tends to evoke more terror, Fulani jihadists are responsible for most of the current religious violence.  
Umeagbalasi attributed at least 60% of the attacks on Nigerian Christians to either extremist Fulani herdsmen or jihadist Fulani bandits. He explained that Fulani jihadists will routinely decimate entire Christian communities and leave nearby Muslim communities unscathed. 
He added that not even 1% of Fulani jihadists have been arrested. And far fewer have ever been convicted.   
With virtually no deterrents, these jihadists partake in a buffet of criminality. They can loot and kidnap for profit. Or they can indulge themselves through sexual attacks. If feeling inclined to proselytize, they can undertake forcible conversions, beheading those who refuse.  
Umeagbalasi would like to see the U.S. Department of State acknowledge Nigeria's ongoing lethal jihadist Fulani problem by designating both “Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen” and “Jihadist Fulani Bandits” as Entities of Particular Concern. 
It's worth mentioning that Nigeria — home to the majority of Christians killed for their faith each year worldwide — has had a curious relationship with the U.S. State Department’s list of “Countries of Particular Concern” (CPC) for violating religious freedom.  
Nigeria made the CPC list for the first time at the end of 2020. The following year, it was removed from the list — even though the situation there did not improve. 
Those concerned with religious freedom in Nigeria were aghast when, in 2023, a State Department official said that, “after careful review, Nigeria would remain excluded from the list of religious freedom violators." 
As of May 31, 2025, Nigeria has yet to reappear on the list, which was last updated at the end of 2023.  
Meanwhile, some prominent Christians in Nigeria have spoken publicly about how the ongoing massacres are not just about killing Christians but also about forcing the surviving Christians to flee their land forever.   
Wilfred Anagbe, the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi in Nigeria's Middle Belt region, said, “The quest to Islamise the land is high on the agenda of some of the most powerful and influential Muslims in Nigeria.”    
Many Nigerian Christians suspect that the goal is to bring radical Islam to as much of Nigeria as possible, eventually taking over the oil-rich southern region, which is predominantly Christian. 
Recent years have even seen jihadists making headway in southern Nigeria. Regional authorities there have been rendered ineffective in addressing issues at the national level.  
And so, Nigeria's Christians — who comprise almost half of the population — have a far more troubled situation than they do in most countries where Christians are only a tiny minority.  
Umeagbalasi described it as “a sorry state of utter vulnerability.” 
To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Thursday, May 29, 2025

Eyewitness account of Muslims killing his family members

 

They say the world only burns when the fire reaches your doorstep. Otherwise, it is just another spectacle, far-off smoke, a sound you can sleep through. It is all right, they say, to watch the flames of violence swallow others, so long as they don’t swallow us. So long as the ash does not settle on our roofs. Some even say it is acceptable if it is our own doing the burning. Then, the silence is justified. The gain is holy. 
But what happens when the flame forgets its lane? 
It will. It always does. 
My name is Uren. I am from Hurti, a small village in Daffo, Bokkos, Plateau state. I am in SS3 at the Government Secondary School in Manguna. 
In Bokkos, we farm potatoes, maize, and whatever the land agrees to yield because that is what we know best. That is how we survive. Occasionally, we trade. But it is the land that feeds us. 
During a recent weekend, my people, the Ron and Kulere, enjoyed our annual festival. People came from all over. Not because everything was alright, but because the festival gave us strength. It reminded us that we are still here. We are still alive. And even though we keep losing people to violence, we cannot stop living. Besides, we know everyone will die someday. 
On Wednesday morning, before the sun rose, my mother reminded me that we needed to head to the farm early before the heat turned cruel and drained our energy. There is always work to be done on the farm; come rain, come sun, dry, or green. Life in our village follows that rhythm. 
For some reason, that morning, I woke with the weight of Oswald Mtshali’sNightfall in Sowetopressing heavily on my chest. Mr. Mallo, our literature teacher, painted it vividly when he taught the poem.Feel it,he said.Poetry is meant to be felt.” 
I felt it, alright. The fear. The dusk was falling like judgment. I felt it because it was no longer just poetry. It was no longer Soweto. It was Plateau. It was Bokkos. It was home. It was real. 
My classmate told me that in their village, Josho, and even in Ganda and Manguna, they no longer sleep at night. The men and the boys had started spending the night in the trees, like hunted animals. They went up there not to fight. They went there to act as sirens. Human alarms.  
When the raiders came, they were the voices screaming,Run!” 
And the raiders? They always came. 
In our history class, Mrs. Mafwil told us that once upon a time, invaders galloped in on horses, with spears, bows, and arrows slicing through the air with ancient rage. Today, they arrive on iron horses, humming death and machines that spit fire and thunder. 
They come knowing they will not be stopped
They come knowing their mission has been carved into the silence of complicity. 
They come. They slaughter. They leave. And they come again. Their faces are not hidden. Their names are whispered. Their language portrays who they are. Yet, somehow, they remain unknown.  
That Wednesday, they walked into our morning as we worked on the farm. My mother, father, five siblings, and I cleared the land so we could plant soon. We were engrossed in tearing up weeds with calloused hands and brushing the earth off our feet when we heard the buzzing of motorbikes, many of them, and the cracking of gunfire all around. 
It was loud and close — a rhythm now too familiar. First at night, now in broad daylight. A group of attackers was moving in on our village, and the nearby villages too
We froze, not knowing what to do. Big black clouds of smoke began rising. Houses were burning. We saw people running, screaming. Although it wasn't near us yet, the land was flat; we could see everything. We were certain the attackers had seen us. One cannot hide easily out there. My mother’s face twisted. 
“Home,she whispered and broke into a run. But my father ran after her and held her back. She began to shiver.My children, my children,she said, as tears welled up in her eyes. 
My two younger sisters were at home; one was sick, the other left to look after her. The ground where my mother stood turned wet. She had urinated on herself out of fear.  
The sky was no longer blue. It had become a sheet of thick black smoke. In the distance, homes coughed fire, and people ran like ants from an overturned nest. Screams scattered in the wind. The attackers chased those who ran toward our farm. They were coming. We had been seen. The land offers no cover here. It is flat and wide. It betrays you. 
My father’s mind raced faster than the bikes. He pointed to a narrow hole. The opening was wide enough for us to squeeze through, and we did. We did not ask what was inside. We did not think where it would lead. We just entered. 
We smelled the damp scent of death all around us. We squeezed in, my siblings and I, while my parents and one of my brothers covered the hole with dry leaves and grass. They stayed outside. There was no room for all of us. From that tiny breath-hole, I watched. 
The men on bikes came. Five of them. With their guns slung carelessly around them, they chose to use knives instead. Long, rusted, personal. They circled my parents and brother like wolves around tired prey. They chanted aGod is greatprayer to a God they no longer feared. And then, they cut wherever their razors could reach. Blood was everywhere. 
My father begged, his voice cracking like old wood. My mother shrieked as they cut, and they cut again. They struck my brother down with the butt of a gun. 
“Soon, you are all gone!they shouted in Hausa with a Fulani accent. Then more chants ofGod is great,and more bikes revving into the distance. Their glee was carried by gunshots and war cries as they made their way to join the others. And then, there was silence, except for my mother’s sharp and soul-piercing wail. She crawled to my brother’s lifeless body and pulled it close. 
My father just sat there, blood pooling around him. His eyes were vacant. He was staring like he could see a world we could not. I could not take it anymore. I blacked out. My young mind had given up. 
When I finally came to, I learned my father had died. My two sisters, who were left at home, were slaughtered with knives. My mother was still in shock.  
We saw the assailants and what they looked like. We heard the language they spoke and how they prayed to their god. We also know that their kind occupies many of the villages around that have been razed
It is said that when people are pushed to a wall, they will push back, not out of bravery, but out of necessity. I fear what will happen now that we are near that point. Survival is not cowardice. It is instinct. But how long do you stay law-abiding while the law does not consider your blood worth avenging? How long do you bow to a system that rewards those who live outside it? 
First, it was Jos, now christened theJos crisis,then Riyom, Barkin Ladi, Bassa, Mangu, Wase, and Kanam. Everywhere in Plateau is getting a taste of the 21st-century jihad.  
I hear that there are people who gain from the fire. People who watch it from high windows and sip their tea. People who call for peace but fund the bullets. And then, there are people like me, Uren, who only ever wanted to farm, to live, and to love my land. 
The invaders have awakened something dangerous, not just pain, but memory. 
And memory, when soaked in blood, never forgets. 
International Christian Concern (ICC) continues to work in Nigeria, helping our brothers and sisters there overcome ongoing attacks from Islamic extremists. Join us in this work by making a donation today.
To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Thursday, May 1, 2025

Muslim deliberately drives 18-wheeler into Easter Parade and kills 6 in Nigeria

 

A government-appointed committee determined that the driver of an 18-wheel truck that plowed into an Easter parade on Sunday, April 21, in the town of Billiri, Gombe state, Nigeria, intentionally struck the Christians as they celebrated Christ’s resurrection. 
The committee also found that of the 36 people involved in the attack, six died and 18 remain in critical condition. Those killed because of the crash include Grace David, Clement Lakason, Ephraim Ibrahim, Faida P. Uslas, Rejoice Mela, and Praise Ayuba. 
“Our investigation revealed that the driver’s actions were deliberate,said Rambi Ayala, committee chair and member of the Gombe State House of Assembly.He rammed into the last batch of worshippers during their procession, causing multiple deaths and injuries.” 
Competing Narratives 
According to early police reports, the driver experienced a brake failure and couldn’t stop the vehicle before the fatal crash. Many local Christians, however, quickly claimed that the crash was intentional and the local government, which includes Muslim leadership, was acting in a discriminatory manner toward Christians.  
“There are a lot of lies … surrounding the incident on Easter Monday ...the Gombe South Emancipation Forum (GSEF), a group of local Christians and Christian leaders, said in a press release. 
For nearly 30 years, Christians in Billiri have celebrated Easter with a procession of singing and dancing to commemorate Jesus's resurrection. 
In its release, the GSEF added that itinterviewed several eyewitnesses, medical personnel, community leaders, security officers, and some of the victims themselves.The organization explained that other vehicles had passed slowly through the crowd that morning, and the driver of the truck, who is believed to be Muslim, was warned to do the same. 
“An 18-wheeler truck (trailer) came running towards the direction of the … group of … Christians who had now reached theTashan Gona’ junction,the statement said.Some individuals quickly waved to the driver and told him to slow down and to honk his horn when he gets close to the group so they can give him [a] way to pass. The driver slowed down as he listened to them. He was moving at around 10-15 kilometers per hour. But as soon as he saw the crowd ahead of him, he increased his speed and ran into the group from behind them without ever honking his horn. He mowed [down] several people, killing five, and injuring several others.” 
Video of the crash shows the truck driving into the crowd, and no distinguishable sounds of a horn honking to warn the attendees can be heard
Hannatu David Titu lost her daughter, 23-year-old Grace David, who was killed in the incident. Though Titu wasn't in attendance at the procession, she stated through tears that she believed the incidentwas a deliberate attack.”  
Additionally, Abishag Sambo, an attorney who helps Christians in Nigeria, told International Christian Concern (ICC) that, in her opinion,there was no brake failure.Sambo explained that she thinks it’s possible that local authorities were attempting to cover up an act of persecution.  
“There is no neutrality in this situation,Sambo stated.We know how they operate. The system is wicked.” 
Dr. Jeremiah Gado, former president (2012-2018) of the ECWA (Evangelical Church Winning All) and current board chair of the CSW Nigeria board of trustees, told ICC that his neighbors were killed in the incident. Gado was in Billiri at the time of the incident, but was not a part of the procession. 
“Other vehicles came and passed by, but this vehicle came and just ran over the people in the procession,Gado stated.[The incident is] part of a deliberate persecution of Christians.” 
A Neglected Health Care System 
The investigative committee also called on government officials to upgrade the state’s emergency medical infrastructure. Some have claimed that victims of the crash likely could have been saved if a functional hospital existed in the area.  
Gado told ICC the hospital in Gombe state is in "a deliberate act of neglectbecause influential Muslims don’t want to provide adequate medical facilities for the local Christian population. 
The alleged withholding of adequate services compounds the immense pain Nigerian Christians in Gombe and elsewhere have experienced in recent years as they’ve endured ongoing murder, rape, and kidnappings at the hands of Islamic extremist groups.  
According to Genocide Watch,since 2000, 62,000 Christians in Nigeria have been murdered in genocide perpetrated by Islamist jihadist groups including Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and Fulani militias.”
To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Friday, April 25, 2025

Muslims increase terrorist attacks in Nigeria in 2025

 

Since January, International Christian Concern (ICC) has documented a dramatic rise in attacks against Christian communities in Nigeria. In just over three months, more than 300 Christians have been killed, dozens abducted, and thousands displaced in a wave of organized violence that has swept across Plateau, Benue, Kaduna, Nasarawa, and Ebonyi states. 
One of the most devastating attacks occurred on Palm Sunday, April 13, in Zike village, Plateau state, where at least 56 people, including 15 children, were killed and 103 homes were burned.
Days earlier, militants launched simultaneous attacks on 15 villages in Bokkos LGA, leaving 56 dead, 28 injured, and displacing more than 5,000 people. Another 72 people were killed in an attack that occurred around April 18 in Ukum and Logo LGAs, Benue state.
“These are not isolated incidents,” ICC’s Africa Regional Director said. “This is part of a sustained and growing pattern of religiously motivated violence, where Christian communities are deliberately targeted and devastated.” 
Other notable incidents reported by ICC in 2025 include: 
  • Clergy abductions and killings in Edo, Kaduna, and Plateau states 
  • More than 230 homes burned or destroyed 
  • At least 10 churches damaged or razed — many during Sunday services or overnight attacks 
  • At least 15 farms destroyed or seized, threatening food security and livelihoods for displaced Christian families 
The perpetrators are often identified as Islamic Fulani militants operating with impunity. ICC field partners report that many attacks are premeditated, targeting Christians during worship or in their homes at night. 
Despite two decades of ongoing persecution, 2025 marks one of the most violent years in recent memory. Nigerian authorities have yet to deliver adequate protection or justice, and many survivors report being left without shelter, security, or basic support. 
ICC continues to document these attacks, respond with emergency aid, and call for stronger international pressure to protect Nigeria’s Christian population.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Wednesday, April 16, 2025

54 Christians killed during Palm Sunday service in Nigeria

 

Following Palm Sunday celebrations on April 13, Islamic Fulani extremists slaughtered at least 54 Christians in the village of Zikke near Jos, Plateau state. Local leaders are calling the attack “a targeted act of genocide against the Christian community.” 
Eyewitnesses said the attack lasted more than an hour, leaving 103 households destroyed and the entire village displaced. Frustration mounted as residents reported a delayed military response and accused security forces of bias, disarming local Christian youth but not Fulani attackers. 

The Rev. Hezekiah Mukan officiated the mass burial of 51 Christians on April 14. Mukan, also chair of the Christian Association of Nigeria, consoled locals reading from 1 Thessalonians 4:13, calling on everyone to remember their hope in Christ as they mourned the dead. The three other known victims received separate Christian burials.

Pastor Ishaku Mathew Kure, a local Baptist pastor, lost 10 members of his congregation and described seeing the attackers, some speaking both English and Fulani, using phrases like “Kill” and “Let’s go.” The pastor, who narrowly escaped with his family, called the violence “genocide” and questioned the government’s failure to disarm Fulani militias while locals remain defenseless. 

Amnesty International condemned the massacre, which left elderly people and children butchered in their homes. “The inexcusable security lapses must be investigated,” Amnesty stated, adding that mere statements of condemnation are insufficient without justice and accountability. 

From December 2023 to February 2024, more than 1,300 people were killed in Plateau state alone, including more than 500 women and 260 children. Nearly 30,000 people have been displaced. The frequency and pattern of the attacks have led to growing fears of an orchestrated campaign to forcibly displace Christian communities and seize their ancestral lands

Eli Bako, a state lawmaker representing the affected area, called the attack “evil” and pleaded with the international community for urgent intervention. “One day, we will have no people left in our constituency,” he warned, criticizing the selective disarmament of vulnerable villagers. 

Plateau State Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang condemned the attacks as “coordinated acts of terror” aimed at ethnic cleansing. In a state broadcast on April 14, he stated, “What we are witnessing is not mere herder-farmer clashes, but a calculated campaign of genocide.” 

He pledged full support for the victims, announcing free medical treatment for the wounded, deployment of more troops, and provision of emergency relief supplies. The governor also met with top federal security officials, including Nigeria’s president and the chief of defense staff, to demand urgent intervention. 

Despite these measures, confidence in Nigeria’s ability to protect its Christian communities continues to erode. As international organizations monitor the situation, urgent calls for justice, protection, and humanitarian aid are rising.  
To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Christian missionary rescued in South Africa

 

Following an intense gun battle, South African police have rescued U.S. missionary and pastor Josh Sullivan from his kidnappers.
His rescue comes less than a week after masked armed men took him hostage at gunpoint as he preached a sermon last Thursday at Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell, a township in Gqeberha, located in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province.
According to a statement from the South African Police Service, officers pursued the pastor after receiving intelligence on his whereabouts in another local township. Three suspects died in the ensuing shootout.
Sullivan, a 45-year-old church-planting missionary from Tennessee, was with the gunmen when the shootout began.
“The victim was found inside the same vehicle from which the suspects had launched their attack,” the police statement said. “Miraculously unharmed, he was immediately assessed by medical personnel and is currently in an excellent condition.”
According to police, four masked gunmen entered the church late last Thursday night during a prayer meeting with about 30 attendees. The assailants robbed two cell phones before abducting the 45-year-old pastor and taking him in his own vehicle, a silver Toyota Fortuner. The car was later found abandoned about a mile from the church.  
Sullivan, a husband and father of six, has been a missionary in South Africa since 2018. Sullivan and his family are members of Fellowship Baptist Church, an independent Baptist church in Maryville, Tennessee, where Sullivan has been on staff. His wife and children are among those who witnessed the kidnapping.  
While some reports suggested the kidnapping may have been financially motivated, the attackers targeted the preacher and were well aware of his vocation. The gunmen reportedly knew Sullivan by name. The church also faced threats of being burned down at the end of 2024. 
Sullivan and his wife planted Fellowship Baptist Church on Aug. 1, 2021, to provide a church for the Xhosa-speaking people of South Africa.
To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org.