Billy Hallowell
A persecution watchdog is sounding the alarm about the worsening situation for Christians unfolding around the globe.
Shawn Wright, president of International Christian Concern (ICC), told CBN News that his organization’s 2026 Global Persecution Index exposes some truly diabolical situations in various nations.
But at the core of the shocking statistics and metrics is a sobering reality: people’s lives are being upended and even destroyed.
“Behind every statistic is a real person, a husband, a wife, pastor, or a child who has chosen faithfulness to Christ despite enormous persecution,” he said. “The index is not simply a report about persecution. It’s a call for the global church to stand with our brothers and sisters who suffer for their faith, because behind every statistic is a real person — and they’ve chosen Jesus over safety.”
Wright said Christians shouldn’t be surprised by rising persecution, explaining that he believes the New Testament is very clear on the matter. Jesus himself warned believers that they, too, would face pushback for following Him. Regardless, he said Christians need to stand up and take action.
“Hebrews 13:3 is very clear that we are to remember those who are imprisoned for their faith just as if we’re chained with them,” he said.
As for the biggest surprises in the ICC’s 2026 Global Persecution Index, Wright said Nigeria is top of mind.
“In Nigeria, in particular, the rise [of persecution is] in such an unfathomable measure,” he said. “Before [2024], we were looking at maybe in a one-year period, 500, 600 people who were killed in Nigeria, and just in the past year, that number has gone to over 2,500 and is increasing quickly.”
Wright added, “Nigeria represents almost 90% of all persecution around the globe that we can track.”
Fulani militants are responsible for more than 40% of the attacks, with other Muslim groups also contributing to the horror. People have been driven from their homes, dispersed and killed. Children are often left in the crosshairs of these tragic situations.
“I just returned two months ago from two of these government camps in Nigeria looking for myself,” Wright said. “These camps were just a mile down the road from where they originally were living … and many of these children are orphaned because their parents were killed in these attacks.”
He said the government is often complicit in these events or simply ignores what’s unfolding.
Wright also highlighted other areas, including parts of South America and countries such as China and India, where the index found rising or concerning levels of persecution.
Contrary to Nigeria, the persecution present in China takes a very different form, with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cracking down on religious belief and harming Christians and other religious minorities. Through technology, China holds a grip on others and takes aim at these cohorts.
“China, for instance, theirs is through state control, surveillance, pressure on churches, closing of churches,” Wright said of the persecution dynamic. “But the biggest thing that China does is their electronic surveillance, and they actually sell this and give this to other governments like Iran, and Pakistan, and India, and some others that are in Southeast and East Asia so that they have a better way of tracking dissident groups, which leads to the opportunity for them to track Christians in particular.”
Meanwhile, India offers yet another tragic look at the persecution paradigm, with Hindu nationalism driving much of the problem, according to Wright. He believes the government has essentially “outlawed the ability to evangelize” through rules and regulations that seek to restrict organizations and Christian groups.
“They also have anti-conversion laws … that are strategically targeting Christians, in particular, that you cannot share your faith, period,” Wright said. “And even … the way the laws are written in 13 of these states, it even raises questions of sharing your faith with other Christians.”
