Christians in western African nations are facing a rising tide of Islamic persecution and terrorism.
Open Doors, one of the Christian advocacy groups seeking to expose the crisis, told the story of a Christian widow in the nation of Niger who lost her husband at the hands of Islamic militants.
“Hakuri,” whose name was changed in the interview by Open Doors to keep her safe, revealed in a Sept. 18 interview with the nonprofit that her village in Niger was attacked by jihadists.
“I and my husband with little children were in the house,” Hakuri recalled, adding that the Muslims started torching homes, forcing them to leave.
As people were fleeing their properties, the Muslims started murdering all of the men.
“You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary.” (Revelation 2:3) #VerseOfTheDay
‘Hakuri’ from #Niger says, “I beg Christians around the world to pray for us; pray that God will make our faith strong in Christ to endure persecution.” pic.twitter.com/RVYv9fxUny
— Open Doors UK (@OpenDoorsUK) September 24, 2025
Hakuri and the children fled into a schoolhouse.
The militants then revealed that they would kill any man they found in that building, forcing Hakuri and other mothers to disguise their sons as girls.
“We removed the clothes of our boys and put female clothes on them,” Hakuri said.
The Muslims had been forcing all women, regardless of religion, to wear head-to-toe coverings.
Hakuri and her children were able to depart from the village, and they started counting the corpses of men killed by the group strewn along the roadside.
She wondered whether any of the bodies belonged to her husband, and she soon learned that he had indeed been murdered.
“We saw some dead bodies of men that were killed in the village during the attack. Because men were scattered, we didn’t know exactly how many people had been killed,” she said.
Hakuri and her children navigated through a series of checkpoints.
Open Doors noted that women like Hakuri face tremendous economic insecurity and the risk of starvation.
Members of her church were only able to worship if soldiers were patrolling their village to ward off attacks.
Despite the murder of her husband and the other difficulties she faces, Hakuri is trusting the Lord through her fiery trials.
“I will not say that God has rejected me, God forbid,” she said. “But I can say that I am paying the price of following Jesus.”
Open Doors noted that Islamic militants target Christian men and boys in Niger and other countries because “militants know they are striking at the future of Christian families, creating economic chaos and displacement that can destroy communities of faith and weaken the witness of the church.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.