Gunmen kidnapped students from a Catholic school in Nigeria during the early hours of Friday (21), in the latest attack after United States President Donald Trump threatened the country with military action over the treatment of Christians in the West African nation.
Police and local government in Niger state, where the attack occurred, confirmed the abduction of students from St. Mary’s School, but did not provide the number.
TV station Arise News reported that 52 students were kidnapped.
The security situation in Nigeria has come under increasing scrutiny since Trump’s failure to crack down on the killing of Christians.
The Nigerian government claims that Christians face persecution in Nigeria is a misrepresentation of the facts.
Police said security forces were at the scene of Friday’s attack on the Catholic school, searching nearby forests to try to rescue those kidnapped.
The Niger state government said the educational institution ignored an order for boarding schools to be closed due to intelligence indicating a high likelihood of attacks.
Other attacks this week include that of a boarding school in Kebbi state and an attack on a church in Kwara state, in which a church representative told Reuters news agency that 38 worshipers were taken away by armed men.
The church representative stated that the armed men demanded a ransom of 100 million naira (approximately US$69,000) per believer.
Kebbi, Kwara and Niger states border each other.
This week’s wave of attacks led Nigerian President Bola Tinubu to cancel trips abroad to South Africa and Angola, where he was scheduled to attend a summit of the African Union and the European Union.
Tinubu also sent a delegation led by the country’s national security advisor to the United States to meet with American lawmakers and government officials.
