Nigeria: Over 200 school students, 12 teachers abducted from Catholic school

Over 200 students from a private Catholic school in Nigeria were reportedly kidnapped by armed bandits, as violence against Christians spread in the West African nation.

While some students were able to escape and return to safety,  the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said 215 students and 12 teachers were abducted in the raid.

Anxious parents have been coming to the school to pick up their children while CAN’s Niger State chapter chairman, Most. Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna has told guardians of the abducted kids that the school is working with the government and security agencies to bring their children back.

Schools shut down

The incident is only the latest in a string of violence perpetrated by armed goons who have been waging a war against the Christian community in the country. Earlier this week, gunmen attacked a church in Nigeria’s Kwara state, killing at least two people. Also, 25 female students were kidnapped from a government boarding school and its vice principal was shot and killed during this attack that happened this week.

The Niger state government closed many schools. President Bola Tiubu cancelled international engagements, including attending the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to handle the crisis, which came after gunmen on Monday stormed a secondary school in Kebbi state in northwestern Nigeria, abducting 25 girls.

For years, heavily armed criminal gangs have been intensifying attacks in rural areas of northwest and central Nigeria, where there is little state presence, killing thousands and conducting kidnappings for ransom.

The gangs have camps in a vast forest straddling several states, including Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Sokoto, Kebbi and Niger, from where they launch attacks.

Hegseth calls for restraint

Meanwhile, the news of attacks against Christians has made its way to the Pentagon in the US, with Pete Hegseth urging Africa’s most populous nation to take steps to curb violence against Christians.

Hegseth called on Nigeria to “take both urgent and enduring action to stop violence against Christians,” as he met with Nigerian National Security Advisor Nuhu Ribadu.

The Thursday meeting between Hegseth and Ribadu at the Pentagon came after US President Donald Trump said Christianity was “facing an existential threat” in the west African nation, warning that if Nigeria does not stem the killings, the United States will attack and “it will be fast, vicious, and sweet.”

With inputs from agencies