Ogechukwu Ikwueme woke up to a bright morning in January at the peak of the dry season. The usual harmattan haze was missing, and so was something else.
“It hit me that I had missed my period,” she told Christianity Today. Ikwueme watched as two lines on her at-home pregnancy test slowly turned red for positive. This opened a floodgate of emotions, especially fear.
Ikwueme is single.
Nigeria only allows abortions when a pregnancy endangers the life of the mother, though women still seek illicit abortions for unexpected pregnancies. Forty-two-year-old Ikwueme decided to carry her child to term, but she worried about how she would cope alone.
How would she pay her bills and find emotional support? Her salary as the head of human resources at a law firm was hardly meeting her needs amid Nigeria’s rising inflation. Her body would change. She would have to ditch her weight-loss routine. She worried about facing her family, friends, fellow church members, and pastor.
In Nigeria’s traditional society, having a child outside wedlock comes with stigma. Nigerians often speak of “baby mamas” with condescension. Although Nigeria has laws on the books—such as the Child Rights Act and the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act—aimed at establishing paternity and child support, these measures are poorly enforced, leaving unmarried women vulnerable.
While Nigerian churches often reinforce cultural disdain toward unmarried mothers, some pastors are shifting how churches respond—offering women a call to grace and repentance instead of condemnation.
That’s why Ikwueme was so surprised by her pastor’s reaction.
Many churches expect brides to take pregnancy, HIV, and genotype tests on the eve of their weddings. Though these practices are meant to discourage premarital sex and emphasize sexual purity among church members, they haven’t done much to reduce the prevalence of unplanned pregnancies.
Exact numbers of pregnancies among unwed women are hard to find, but a 2021 study estimated 42 percent of births in Nigeria occurred out of wedlock in 2018—likely due to an older average age of marriage.
Data from the Guttmacher Institute—Planned Parenthood’s research arm—estimates that 29 percent of pregnancies in Nigeria from 2015 to 2019 were unintended and that almost half of unintended pregnancies during that time ended in abortion. If trends have held steady, about 312,000 births may result yearly from unplanned pregnancies.
While Ikwueme decided to break the news to her pastor personally, she made up her mind to stop attending church afterward. She didn’t want to face condemnation or pity from members of her church. But rather than judge her, Ikwueme’s pastor offered support.
“He shocked me,” Ikwueme explained. The pastor told her that “God is still in the business of forgiving sins and [unwed pregnancy] was not enough reason to forsake attending fellowship.”
The pastor’s wife called her a few days later to check on her and to find out whether Ikwueme had registered for prenatal care. Whenever she missed services due to illness or fatigue, the pastor and his wife checked up on her.
“These people were determined to behave like Jesus would,” Ikwueme said. “I am very lucky with my choice of church.”
Ikwueme’s pastor is not alone. Babatunde Ojo, who pastors a branch of the World Evangelism Bible Church (WEBIC) in the suburbs of Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory, said that while denominational leadership discourages having children outside wedlock, his small congregation of 100 has never cast away an unmarried member who became pregnant. He would rather provide support and counseling.
“It is only God that forgives sins,” Ojo said, adding he doesn’t believe it’s his place to help God judge a sinner.
Other Christian leaders have not cared so well. The Zion Prayer Movement Outreach, a ministry with branches in Lagos and Imo, has gone viral this year for harsh sermons preaching against women like Ikwueme and discouraging prenatal care for all women. The ministry’s spiritual director Chukwuebuka “Ebuka” Anozie Obi alleged in a viral video on Facebook claimed that many pregnant women fornicate or commit adultery with doctors during prenatal visits.
Obi claimed at least eight women said doctors had slept with them during medical checkups. But by discouraging prenatal care and suggesting it encourages immorality, Obi’s comments put women at risk. Many women already shun hospitals, preferring to go to prayer houses to deliver their babies. In a country with a high mortality rate—about 1 of every 100 women die while giving birth, according to the World Bank Group—discouraging proper care during pregnancy endangers lives.
Unique Sisters Fellowship lead pastor Rita Erengwa disagrees with Obi’s approach, saying her ministry won’t turn away unwed mothers. She said her fellowship bases its position in part on Romans 3:23, which states, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
“Some churches make them sit at the back as a way of sanctioning them,” Erengwa said, but she calls this counterproductive, as it pushes some women away from the church.
“Only God can judge, because when somebody opens up to you and acknowledges that she has sinned, it is not the time to condemn.”
