Press Release
“Holy Week Massacre:
Christians Martyred for Their Faith in Nigeria”

1 April 2026

The Universal Christian Church of the New Jerusalem voices her profound outrage at the latest massacre of Christians in Nigeria, which took place during the Holy Week.

On the night of 30 March, terrorists from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) stormed the Christian community of Kautikari, near Chibok in Borno State, murdering twelve worshippers.

This Church embraces all persecuted Christians in Nigeria with boundless love, mindful that as the Christians walk with Christ towards Calvary, these brothers and sisters in faith are experiencing the Way of the Cross marked not by meditation, but by bloodshed. The Church fervently prays to the Lord that the sacrifice of these martyrs, occurring during the days of the Savior’s Passion, may bring forth a harvest of justice and peace for the entire world.

“So it is with you: you are sad now,
but I shall see you again, and your hearts will be full of joy,
and that joy no one shall take from you”.
(Jn 16, 22-23)