2/12/2025 Nigeria (International Christian Concern) — Five Muslim men were sentenced in December 2024 to life imprisonment for the rape of a 10-year-old girl from a Christian family in Nigeria. 

The men attacked the girl child in September 2024 in the northern Nigerian state of Kaduna. The five men, ages 21 to 25, are all related through a shared father. 

Abishag Sambo, a long-time Christian advocate in Nigeria, served as the girl’s attorney. In an interview with International Christian Concern (ICC), Sambo explained the details of the case and the state of vulnerability facing Christian women and girls in Nigeria. 

“In the case of Mary, when this … happened, she was battered [and] wounded,” Sambo stated. “She spent two months in the hospital. 

“The little girl was damaged and in a bad condition. She was unconscious for weeks before God miraculously showed us mercy.”

Sambo has assisted the child’s family in obtaining payment for the girl’s treatment, and she continues to pray for the girl. 

“The agenda of [certain Muslim extremists] is to capture Christian girls to provoke Christians to retaliate and war would start. And they do this because they don’t want Christians to live in the north,” Sambo explained. “They do it because they know the social stigma that is associated with rape. So, when they do that, they know it will also serve as a kind of shame for the girl. [Rape] is normally done in such a way that they would want to destroy the Christian girls. It’s used as a terrible punishment, too.”

In many parts of the world, rape and violence against women and girls are used to persecute Christians and as a form of punishment for those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. This is, unfortunately, not only the case in parts of Nigeria but also in areas of Egypt, India, Pakistan, and other parts of the world. 

In a 2022 Aid to the Church in Need report, U.S. human rights expert and professor at the Elliot School of International Affairs in Washington, Michele Clark, spoke about sexual violence against Christian women in Egypt. 

“This is not a new phenomenon, unfortunately,” Clark stated. “But the attacks against Christian women have increased in number. And yes, it has something to do with religion. There is evidence that these attacks are planned down to the last detail.”

Sambo explained that, due to the extremely violent nature of Mary’s attack, the young child’s body may never be returned to a fully functional state. 

“The young girl, we were told, medically may not be normal again,” Sambo said, “but we trust in a miracle God who does the impossible.” 

*The girl’s name has been changed to protect her privacy. 

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org.