Nigeria: Gunmen Kidnap 300 Catholic Students

Gunmen Kidnap 300 Catholic Students in Nigeria Nigeria Gunmen abducted more than 300 students and teachers from a Catholic school in central Nigeria over the weekend, the latest incident to draw scrutiny from US President Donald Trump, who has threatened military action over what he has described as persecution of Christians in the country, the Wall Street Journal reported. Early Friday, attackers stormed St. Mary’s Catholic School in central Niger state, firing into the air and forcing students from their dormitories into the surrounding forest. Nigerian authorities initially suggested that a majority of the student body – more than 600 students – had evaded capture. However, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) later said that 303 students and 12 teachers were taken. On Sunday, the association confirmed that roughly 50 students had managed to escape, lowering the number of those still held to 253 – including 250 students from the school and three children belonging to staff members, CNN wrote. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, with officials suggesting that bandit gangs seeking ransom are the most likely perpetrators – part of a long-running pattern of mass kidnappings in rural areas where the state has little presence, Agence France-Presse noted. The incident prompted the state Governor Mohammed Umar Bago to order the shuttering of all schools in Niger state as security agencies conduct search operations. Nearby states have taken similar precautions, and the federal education ministry instructed 47 boarding schools nationwide to close. Friday’s kidnapping is among the largest mass abductions in Nigeria, and follows other attacks last week: On Monday, gunmen raided a girls’ secondary school in Kebbi State, kidnapping 25 students, mostly Muslims. The next day, a separate incident saw armed men attack a church in western Nigeria, killing two people during a service being streamed online and abducting dozens more. Another church attack was reported on Wednesday, killing two. The violence and abductions underscore the ongoing security crisis in Nigeria, which is still recovering from the kidnapping of nearly 300 girls by the militant group, Boko Haram, in northeastern Borno state more than a decade ago. Some of those girls remain missing, according to AFP. The incidents also come less than a month after Trump accused Nigerian authorities of failing to protect Christians, saying he had instructed the Pentagon to prepare military options aimed at destroying Islamist militants. On Friday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth urged Nigeria to take “urgent and enduring action” to stop violence against Christians. Nigerian officials have countered that insecurity affects both Christians and Muslims, and blame a mix of extremist insurgents and criminal gangs operating across the northwest and central regions. Even so, local Christian leaders welcomed the possibility of outside support, with CAN regional chairman Joseph Hayab saying that the incidents “point to the fact that the federal government is not doing enough.”