Nigeria — Boko Haram insurgents recently targeted Christians traveling near a Nigerian army base along the deadly Damboa–Maiduguri highway, killing two Christian teachers and injuring several others.

The victims, Blessing Luka and Gideon Bitterleaf — both devoted Christian educators with the Damboa Local Education Authority — were killed Monday morning when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device (IED) allegedly planted by the Islamic terror group.

The attack occurred just miles from Damboa town, near a military checkpoint that has seen multiple assaults in recent months. Eyewitnesses told International Christian Concern (ICC) that the victims were seated in the front of a commercial Toyota HiAce van transporting mangoes to Maiduguri when the explosion ripped through the vehicle, killing the two Christians instantly. The other passengers sustained varying degrees of injuries and were taken to the State Specialist Hospital in Maiduguri.

“This is a targeted assault not only on innocent Christians but on Nigeria’s hope for recovery through education,” one local said. “Blessing and Gideon served with love and courage in one of the most dangerous regions in the country.”

The Damboa–Maiduguri highway, once vital for trade and access to schools, churches, and hospitals, has become a blood-soaked route of terror. Boko Haram and its rival faction, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), have turned this 54-mile road into a death trap — using landmines, ambushes, and abductions to terrorize civilians and deter humanitarian operations.

Despite repeated attacks and growing calls for protection, the Nigerian government has yet to respond publicly to the incident or announce additional security measures.

“Our Christian communities are exhausted from burying loved ones,” a local pastor said. “We need security, not silence.”

Amnesty International condemned the attack, calling Boko Haram’s use of IEDs on public roads and their ongoing campaign against civilians, particularly Christians, a violation of international humanitarian law.

“These are war crimes,” the organization stated, urging Nigerian authorities to act swiftly.

Since March, Boko Haram has intensified its bombing and abduction campaign across Borno state, often singling out Christian communities, farmers, and women. The insurgency, which began in 2009, has displaced more than 2 million people and devastated livelihoods in northeast Nigeria.

Christian Rights Activist Gata Moses called on the Nigerian government and international partners to take immediate steps to protect Christian communities, ensure justice for victims, and hold Boko Haram accountable for its atrocities.
Sources:persecution

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The Pakistan parliament on May 13 disregarded opposition members’ resistance and passed a law to establish a commission to protect the rights of religious minorities in this Islamic nation.

National Commission for Minority Rights Bill 2025, in its introduction, said that Pakistan “is bound to promote respect of religious diversity and create favourable conditions” for all.

The bill aims to ensure that religious minorities are “enabled to freely practice, express and develop their own culture as it is guaranteed in the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973,” it said.

The bill’s passage “is a significant and historical moment for Pakistan’s polity and society,” said Peter Jacob, a Catholic human rights activist in the country.

“The law provides a strong basis for creating an empowered and autonomous human rights body,” said Jacob, who heads the Lahore-based rights group, Centre for Social Justice.

Jacob, who campaigned for such an independent rights commission amid anti-Christian violence in the country, said the law brings “the huge democratic potential for the inclusion of religious minorities into the policy-making in the country.”

The commission aims to ensure that religious minorities enjoy human rights in all spheres, including the religious, economic, social, and cultural spheres, as outlined in the national constitution and international covenants and declarations, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Besides, it also provides “an opportunity for correcting exclusionary societal trends that have been plaguing our system,” Jacob said.

The law grants the commission the authority to summon witnesses, inspect detention facilities, and initiate suo motu inquiries, enabling it to issue binding recommendations to both federal and provincial authorities.

Additionally, it is mandated to have its own budget for operations without requiring prior approval from the government. It should report its audited annual report only to the parliament.

Reverend Shehzad Gill, a senior pastor from the Protestant Church of Pakistan, expressed concern that the commission “could be too bureaucratic.”

The law stipulates that the commission be led by a chairperson from a religious minority community and will include fourteen representatives from various regions, at least 33 percent of them women.

An ex-officio member from the National Commission for Human Rights will also be part of the commission, all of whom will be appointed by the Prime Minister through “a transparent nomination process,” according to the law.

“The true test of the commission’s effectiveness lies in its ability to function independently and impartially,” said Gill, who also works as a development adviser in the Diocese of Raiwind.

Ataurehman Saman, deputy director of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Pakistan, said previously that they had a name-sake rights commission under the religious ministry, and “the state had been falsely claiming to have a commission for minorities at international forums since 1995.”

In 2020, the then-government established an ad hoc commission for minorities, but it was rejected by minority communities as toothless.

In June 2024, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, suo motu, requested the government to establish a statutory body to safeguard the rights of religious minorities as guaranteed by the country’s constitution and legal system.

With that, Christian groups and rights activists joined others to press for an independent body that can function effectively. The decade-long campaign resulted in the drafting of the National Commission for Minority Rights Bill 2025.

On April 23, 2025, the Prime Minister relocated the existing commission from the Ministry of Religious Affairs to the Ministry of Human Rights, signaling a shift toward rights-based enforcement.

Christian leaders acknowledge that while they view the new independent commission as a step forward, it may ultimately fail if it fails to exercise its authority and becomes a tool of its political masters.

“This [the new commission] is not the end of the road — it’s the beginning of a long journey towards justice and equality for religious minorities in Pakistan,” said Jacob.
Sources:ucanews

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Nigeria – The sharp blade of a machete cut the ropes that tied Pastor Ojih’s feet together. Rough hands jerked him to his feet from the ground where he had laid for hours, singing praises to God with his cheek pressed into the dirt.

Pastor Ojih and several other Christians had been captured by radical Islamists, bound, and left alone to contemplate their fate under the scorching heat of Nigeria’s sun. They were told to stand and decide their fate.

“If you want to live for Christ, go to this side,” his captor said, jerking his hand toward a man dressed in white with a sword who stood apart from the captives. “If you want to go for Mohammad, remain where you are.”

Pastor Ojih led the way for those who would stand for Christ with a song of praise coming from his lips. Seven others followed. He watched, with tears in his eyes, as the men who turned to Islam to save their lives began to recite the Arabic vows to convert to Islam.

Pastor Ojih kneeled in front of his executioner and was given one last chance. His executioner raised his sword and asked him if he wanted to live as a Muslim or die as a Christian.

The husband and father of four turned to his companions and spoke his last words. “If you survive, tell my family that I died well and am living with Christ. And if we all die, we know that we died for the Lord.”

After hearing the testimonies of so many martyrs over the years, I’m struck by the fact that in account after account, you will find that the death of the martyr often involves a conscious choice. They are given a choice to turn away from Christ and live or to die in Christ.

If you are like most people, when you read accounts like Pastor Ojih and these early Christians, you are struck by their courage and are probably asking yourself, “Could I do what they did? Could I die as a faithful witness with a sword over my neck?”

In Luke 14:33, Jesus says, “Any of you who does not give everything he has, cannot be my disciple.” Are we willing to give up everything, even our own life, for God? He demands our everything, and yet we hold back. Our love for the world and its comforts often rivals our love for the One who offers us the greatest of treasures, an unconditional, incomprehensible love and the gift of eternal life.

Jesus calls us in Matthew 22 to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, and mind. The martyrs are an inspiring example of what loving the Lord with all that is within us looks like. They’re not just being willing, but purposefully choosing to lay down their very life in order to demonstrate just how invaluable the love of God is. They consider the cost of their life a small price to pay for the great reward of being found faithful in Him.

Ojih and the apostles’ fate was sealed long before they met their executioner. Why? Because they had found the ultimate treasure that was worth everything to them. This is why death (eternal life) is their choice.
Sources:persecution

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