Widow of Christian Killed in Nigeria Delivers Petition for Persecuted Christians to Downing Street

Afordia, a Nigerian widow, is joining a delegation that will hand a petition to Downing Street on Thursday. The handover is organised by Open Doors. Her husband, Isaac Inuwa, was killed 12 years ago, and she witnessed the attack.

The petition has been signed by more than a million people worldwide. It calls for protection, justice and restoration for Christians facing violence across sub-Saharan Africa.

Afordia said she was travelling with Isaac on 29 October 2014 when men in uniform stopped their car. “We thought they were Nigerian Army,” she said. “But suddenly some other men came out of hiding with guns shouting at us to get out of the car.” She said the men asked her husband in Hausa whether he was a Muslim or an Infidel. She said he replied that he was neither, but that he was a Christian. “They then ordered him to go to the side of the road,” she said. “He knelt down and started praying. Seconds later they shot my husband several times.”

Open Doors research cited in the report says an average of 12 Christians are killed for their faith every day in sub-Saharan Africa, and that violence against Christians is more widespread there than anywhere else in the world. The charity’s international Arise Africa campaign is pressing governments to respond to deadly attacks, sexual violence and displacement affecting Christian communities, a call for protecting the vulnerable (Psalm 82:3).

The plight of Nigeria’s Christians has also prompted calls from outside the Christian community for Western governments to do more. Writing in The Spectator, Hardeep Singh, deputy-director of the Network of Sikh Organisations, challenged Western leaders over their response to Christian persecution. “Is the West listening? It’s about time they did. Nigeria’s Christians need help more than ever,” he said.

The violence has drawn a response from Washington. US forces carried out strikes against Islamic State targets in Nigeria’s Sokoto State on Christmas Day 2025, and Donald Trump linked the operation to the killing of Christians. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom has also publicly condemned attacks against Christians, warning that Nigerian government efforts are failing to protect vulnerable religious communities.

In July, the European Parliament condemned the persecution of Nigerian Christians in a resolution adopted by 510 votes to one. In the resolution, MEPs called on Nigerian authorities to strengthen civilian protections, bring attackers to justice, and end the culture of impunity. They also called on the EU’s religious freedom envoy to pay particular attention to the deteriorating situation facing Christians and other persecuted religious communities.

Source: Read the original report