Nigeria:

Leah Sharibu, who has been imprisoned in Nigeria for the past five years, is still alive, according to the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), and she recently gave birth to her third child. On February 19, 2018, Boko Haram abducted 110 schoolgirls from a college in Yobe State. Leah was only 14 years old when she and the other girls from the Government Girls' Science and Technical College in northeastern Nigeria were abducted by Boko Haram. However, Leah was the only one who was not released because she refused to renounce her Christian faith in exchange for freedom.

Leah's case has sparked concern around the world and serves as an example of how Islamist terrorism impacts Nigerian Christian communities. Although it appears that the Nigerian government is sympathetic to Leah's plight, little seems to have been done to help her. Leah is rumored to have been married off to one of her kidnappers. As she is not permitted to see her family, it is difficult to determine her present situation. The only sources of information are Boko Haram survivors who have managed to flee or have been freed.

Five former Boko Haram/ Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP) hostages who could not be named for security reasons gave interviews to ACN concerning Sharibu. According to ACN's sources, Sharibu was expecting her third child when they stayed with her, and the child was born in or around April 2023. It was reported in January 2020 that Leah had converted to Islam, married a Boko Haram/ISWAP fighter, and given birth to a son. Boko Haram/ISWAP hostages have experienced ongoing sexual abuse, including rape.

Leah had been enslaved and subjected to degrading treatment at the end of 2018, according to Rev. Gideon Para-Mallam, a close family friend. Leah's desire to regain some freedom and human dignity led her to publicly convert to Islam, he claimed, in part because of the misery of slavery.

An Intersociety report confirms that Nigeria has become one of the most dangerous places to live for Christians in Africa. This was also noted on the 2023 Watch List, which was published in January by Open Doors, the organization that stands in solidarity with the world's persecuted Christians. That study found that 89% of all Christian martyrs globally were from Nigeria.

More than 7,600 Nigerian Christians were killed between January 2021 and June 2022, as per ACN's most recent annual report. Former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is often criticized during his tenure for not doing enough to combat growing insecurity in the country. In addition to Boko Haram, ethnic Fulani Muslim herders who have joined jihadist organizations also pose a threat to Christians.

Mass forceful evictions have resulted from the attacks. The Intersociety research estimates that 5 million Christians have been uprooted and driven into refugee camps at regional and sub-regional borders as well as Internally Displaced Persons camps within Nigeria.