WITHOUT “swift action” and an end to “global silence”, Christian “martyrdoms” in Nigeria may double in 2026, the charity Release International warns.
On Tuesday, the Chritian charity published Persecution Trends 2026, a report incorporating “in-depth, first-hand reflection by the organisation’s partners on the ground”.
In the first 220 days of 2025, more than 7000 Christians were killed in Nigeria, and hundreds more were kidnapped, tortured, or displaced, the report says. It cites data from a Nigerian NGO, the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety).
Last year, Release International says, “Christians faced severe and escalating forms of persecution,” specifically in northern Nigeria. This took the form mainly of attacks by Islamist militant groups such as Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and Fulani herdsmen extremists, the charity says.
Last June, Fulani militants were behind a wave of attacks in the states of Plateau and Benue (News, 19 June). These incidents left more than 200 Christians dead and thousands more displaced.
A Release International partner who is a priest of the Church of Nigeria, the Revd Mark Mukan, said: “These include targeted killings, the burning down of churches, kidnappings for ransom, and forced displacement from farmlands and villages, often framed as ‘farmer-herder clashes’, but with clear religious motivations against Christian communities.”
India is a country with worsening levels of persecution of Christians, the report says, Throughout 2025, Christians endured violence and harassment. “Churches were destroyed, pastors falsely imprisoned and home meetings and prayer for healing banned.”
The charity expects the situation “to deteriorate in 2026, as Indians continue to turn to Christ, thereby antagonising militant elements of the majority Hindu population”.
The report refers to an incident last June in which “a mob accompanied by local officials in Rajasthan attacked a Christian shelter for women, accusing the organisers of fraudulent conversions and exploitation”, and cites a United Christian Forum statistic that, in 2025, “at least 50 incidents of persecution occur across India every day with only about 5 per cent reported.”
One of the charity’s partners in Iran said: “There is obviously a campaign to try to stop the spread of Christianity, to arrest those leading house churches and those involved in evangelism and teaching. The very fear of persecution is a worry as believers meeting in their [homes] do not know if they are under surveillance or not. These pressures have led to an exodus (mainly to Turkey) and this is likely to continue in 2026.”
In Sri Lanka, Release International’s partners said that, although “persecution remains constant in its underlying nature”, the methods of pressure have evolved. Reported incidents have fallen “from 54 in 2023 to 51 in 2024, and 39 between January and October 2025. . . Overt violence and direct threats have reduced, but legal and administrative restrictions are intensifying, particularly through the enforcement of mandatory registration requirements for churches and gathering of information by local authorities.”
The report says: “Buddhist and Hindu extremist groups continue to oppose Christian worship and mobilise local hostility, often influencing authorities to act against churches.”
Release International speaks of an exodus of church leaders from Algeria, and says that the Algerian authorities have sealed off their 16th church, located in Bejaia, and the Bible Society remains unable to release 6000 Bibles “imported legally” and held at the port of Algiers for more than three years, “despite promises from the authorities”.
The chief executive of Release International, Paul Robinson, said: “The message of this report is clear and needs to be heard. While we are always encouraged when we hear of the perseverance of suffering Christians, we should also be persistent in prayer, that God will keep them faithful to Christ and the gospel.”