Nine Christians were abducted in two separate armed attacks on Christian boarding schools in Kaduna State, Nigeria in the past week.
On 3 October, just after midnight, armed gunmen entered a Christian boarding school in a remote area of Kaduna State. The attackers took captive the school’s vice principal, the matron and six female pupils. Police stated that they are “doing everything possible to secure the release of all the victims unhurt.”
In a second midnight attack on 10 October, 20 gunmen stormed a Government Technical School in the predominantly Christian district of Kajura and abducted the school’s principal, himself a Christian. Police said that their intervention prevented the assailants getting access to the students’ residence at the school.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) condemned the abduction of the schoolgirls and staff and warned of an increasing risk of incidents of this type in the region. Local Christian leader John Hayab , Chairman of CAN, urged academic institutions to step up security measures.
On 14 April 2014, the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram abducted 276 mainly Christian schoolgirls from Chibok in north-east Nigeria. Around 160 of the schoolgirls have subsequently escaped, been rescued or released. Girls have reported being whipped by their Islamist captors to force them into marriage, while a group of Christian girls experienced a mock “execution” for refusing to convert to Islam.
From Barnabas fund contacts and other sources
