Nigeria: Church Attack, School Kidnapping Rock Nigeria

Church Attack, School Kidnapping Rock Nigeria Nigeria Gunmen attacked a church in central Nigeria this week, just days after at least 25 schoolgirls were abducted in the country’s northeast, Reuters reported. The incidents have increased pressure on the Nigerian government as it faces mounting scrutiny over deteriorating security and threats to the nation’s Christian community. On Tuesday evening, armed men stormed the Christ Apostolic Church in the town of Eruku in Kwara state during a service, killing at least two people and kidnapping the pastor and several worshippers. Video footage showed parishioners diving for cover as gunfire erupted when the assailants entered the church and seized people’s belongings amid continued shooting. Kwara’s governor requested the immediate deployment of additional security personnel. Tuesday’s attack came barely 24 hours after a separate incident when unknown gunmen assaulted a girls’ boarding school in the predominantly Muslim town of Maga, in Kebbi state. Authorities said the attackers exchanged gunfire with police guards, killing two staff members before abducting the schoolgirls. Two girls managed to escape, and officials are cooperating with locals to find the abducted students, the BBC added. The separate attacks prompted Nigerian President Bola Tinubu to postpone a planned trip to South Africa and Angola. He ordered agencies “to do everything possible” to rescue the girls and hunt down the attackers in the church shooting. The United Nations condemned the Kebbi abductions and urged the “swift release” of the students, according to Africanews. The dual assaults have heightened political pressure on Abuja as US President Donald Trump and American conservatives amplify claims that Christians are being “targeted” in Nigeria. The Nigerian government has rejected those accusations as a misrepresentation of complex, overlapping security crises involving Islamist insurgents, armed bandits, and communal conflicts. The West African country has been grappling with a years-long Islamist insurgency in the northeast, kidnappings and killings by armed gangs in the northwest, and deadly skirmishes between mainly Muslim herdsmen and mostly Christian farmers in the central regions. Security analysts warned that persistent abductions and failures to prosecute known attackers continue to embolden armed groups and erode public confidence. While one such analyst said abductors often “dictate the terms” in negotiations, Nigeria’s chief of army staff said failure to rescue the children is not an option, the Associated Press noted. Share this story