Islamic terrorist groups have kidnapped nearly 700 people in northern Nigeria this month, including many children and many Christians.
Gunmen from the Boko Haram group seized at least 400 victims from multiple Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in the northern state of Borno. They were mostly women, boys and girls who were collecting firewood at the time. In a separate incident, unidentified armed herders attacked a school in Kaduna State, abducting at at least 287 students and teachers.
The crimes came just days before the 10th anniversary of the Chibok schoolgirl kidnapping, which sparked the international campaign #bringbackourgirls after Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls in 2014. Nearly 100 are still in captivity.
Nigerian lawyer Jabez Musa told Premier Christian News he believes kidnapping is a form of Christian persecution. He said: “We as Christians take it as a part of the persecution. Even though in some of the kidnappings there are Muslims as well.”
He has concerns for the welfare of the children as ransoms have not yet been requested from the abductors: “It is possible that some may return but the number is so huge. What normally happens is once someone is kidnapped they place a ransom on him, but we have not had a ransom placed [for these] pupils”
Christian anti-persecution charities are condemning the latest kidnappings. Some of the victims are as young as eight.
Boko Haram is an internationally recognised Islamist terrorist group that is responsible for the deaths and kidnappings of thousands of Nigerians. With the name translated from the region’s Hausa language as Western education is forbidden, much of the group discourages Western ideals.
Boko Haram, as well as other militant groups in Nigeria, contribute to the continued recommendation for Nigeria to be designated as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) by the US State Department. Such a designation would require the United States to address religious persecution in Nigeria that has caused the deaths of more than 50,000 Christians over the past 15 years A believer dies every two hours on average in Nigeria.
Several members of the US Congress have recently taken strides toward combatting this issue. In the first two months of 2024, the US House of Representatives subcommittee on International Affairs hosted two meetings on the future of religious freedom in Nigeria.
The population of Nigeria is approximately 48.1% Christian and 50% Muslim, with the Muslims primarily populating the north and the Christians the south. Hosting 225 million people, Nigeria is by far the most populous country in Africa with the second biggest economy.
