Vicken Euljekjian was reunited with his wife Linda after more than five years; screenshot from video. x.com
The news was announced by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on January 14. “Gevorg Sujyan, Davit Davtyan, Vicken Euljekjian, and Vagif Khachatryan were handed over by the representatives of the relevant bodies of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the Hakari bridge and are now in the territory of Armenia,” he said in a Facebook post.
Armenia in parallel released two Syrian prisoners who had been apprehended fighting on behalf of Azerbaijan in 2020 and were serving life sentences in Armenia.
All four freed Armenians were civilians who had been captured during Azerbaijan’s 2020-2023 military takeover of Nagorno Karabakh and unlawfully detained by Baku—in the case of Euljekjian for more than five years.
20 Armenians still being detained
Christian Solidarity International (CSI), which had taken up the case of the Armenian-Lebanese dual citizen in 2024, welcomed the release of the four hostages while recalling that Azerbaijan continues to hold many other Armenians hostage.
“We rejoice at the news that these men are free after years of torment, and will soon be reunited with their families,” said CSI President Dr. John Eibner. “But we must not forget the 20 Armenian prisoners still held in Baku’s dungeons, or the nearly 80 Armenians who have been forcibly disappeared by Azerbaijan since 2020.”
Eibner called on the United States and other parties involved in the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan to demand the immediate release of the remaining Armenian hostages, pointing out that until all are free, the negotiations are taking place under duress.
“We understand very well that Azerbaijan has turned this purely humanitarian issue into a political bargaining tool,” commented Gegham Stepanyan, Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh).
“We must work tirelessly, every day, to compel Azerbaijan to end the sham trials and release the Armenian hostages illegally held in Baku’s prisons,” he told CSI.
Wave of Islamist attacks in Nigeria
In Nigeria, 2026 began as 2025 had ended with sustained attacks on mainly Christian communities in the Middle Belt. Dozens were killed and hundreds displaced in the violence that also saw a church damaged and houses destroyed.
The attacks across the full width of the country were attributed to different Islamist groups, including Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), active in northeastern Nigeria; Lakurawa, an armed group operating in the north west that is affiliated with ISIS; and Fulani ethnic militias that account for most of the violence in the Middle Belt.
In the worst reported incident, militiamen massacred at least 50 Christian and Muslim villagers in Kasuwan Daji in Niger State in northwestern Nigeria on January 3 and abducted women and children.
Meanwhile, attacks by ISIS on the other side of the country were said by one security expert to be retaliation for a U.S. airstrike carried out on Christmas Day against Islamist strongholds in the northwestern state of Sokoto.
In the second part of a CSI podcast on what is driving the conflict in Nigeria, CSI partner Hassan John argued that the West has been happy to swallow “the unfortunate narrative that this is just a clash over natural resources” unwilling to see “the radical Islamic ideology that is fueling these killings.”
Record violence against Christians in India
In India, it was radical Hindu ideology that fueled attacks on Christians in multiple states in 2025. With nearly 900 cases of physical assault, disruptions to church services and threats against worshipers, 2025 saw a record number of incidents of violence against Christians.
The attacks intensified during Advent and at Christmas, capping a year that saw the worst violence Christians have faced since India’s independence in 1947.
From 2021 onward, each successive year has set a new record for reported violence against Christians in India, the United Christian Forum reported.
Human rights advocates have identified misinformation about “forcible” religious conversion, spread for political gain, and the misuse of anti-conversion laws as the main drivers of these incidents.
As of January 2026, at least 110 Christians were jailed on charges under anti-conversion laws, according to CSI’s local sources.
