A Christian persecution group has presented Downing Street with a petition urging greater protection for Christians facing persecution in sub-Saharan Africa.
More than 100,000 people have signed the "Arise Africa" petition organised by Open Doors, calling for justice for victims and for help for communities impacted by violence.
Open Doors ranked Nigeria as the seventh-most dangerous place to be a Christian in their 2026 World Watch List.
Afordia, a retired community healthcare worker and pastor, watched her husband's death at the hands of Boko Haram terrorists in North East Nigeria in 2014.
Her husband was shot dead after identifying himself as a Christian. Afordia escaped with her life and then spent three days searching for her five children who had escaped their house.
She recounted her terrifying ordeal to Premier Christian News. "I was busy with the women and children giving antenatal care. My phone rang, and it was my husband at the top of his voice saying, "Where are you? Boko Haram are in the city!," she said.
"Bombs were coming from the sky; people were being shot. I was told that my children were at home, but when I got there – there was nobody in the house. We picked up our car and then we met a Boko Haram ambush unknown to us, hidden in the bushes.
"They asked my husband 'what is your name?' and as a result of explaining his religion, they shot him to death. They came over me and asked me the same thing, and when I professed my faith, I heard a voice from nowhere saying 'stop that, who asked you to kill her?'."
"God intervened for me, I was delivered," she added.
After meeting a second ambush, she started running on foot and was then picked up by people driving a car and riding a motorbike. She was recognised by her youngest child, who led them to her sister's house in a nearby village, sleeping on a mountain on their way.
She continued: "I said to those around me: 'These people that have done these killings, they do not know Christ'.
Boko Haram is an Islamist terrorist group and a proscribed terrorist group under UK law.
They destroyed a church and carried out abductions last month, driving Christians out of eight villages in Adamawa State, northeast Nigeria.
The 2026 World Watch List reported that nearly 3,500 people were killed because of their Christian faith, with 200 people killed during one incident in June 2025 in Benue State, southern Nigeria.
Kewente, whose identity has been changed for security reasons, coordinates an emergency response team. He manages a database with over 10,000 people affected by militant attacks.
"My life is at risk, and I take all necessary precautions because I will become a target," he told Premier. "I pray that the attacks will come to an end and that governments emphasise on justice and bring people to attack, so that the common man sees that justice is taken seriously.
"The issue of faith is life or death – Christians in my own area have their faith strengthened because they are easy targets."
In March, a senior advisor to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga, rejected claims of a Christian genocide as Tinubu made a state visit to the UK.
“There is nothing like Christian genocide. What we have is a security challenge which also affects many countries in the world,” he said.