07/05/2021 Nigeria (International Christian Concern) – 140 students were kidnapped from Bethel Secondary School in Kaduna state, Nigeria over the weekend.
In addition, at least eight people, including a one-year-old child, were abducted early Sunday morning from the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Centre in Zaria.
“We will continue to talk, we will make noise. We call on the international community, we call on every person that is involved or that is responsible in any way that can eliminate our problems, to come to our aid. We do not have help anymore. Please, they should come to our aid,” Mustapha Kumbe, father of one of the kidnapped students, told Africa News.
In a statement, police said gunmen “overpowered the school’s security guards and made their way into the students’ hostel where they abducted an unspecified number of students into the forest”.
According to police, special units have been sent to rescue the missing children.
Over 1000 students are estimated to have been kidnapped from educational institutions across Nigeria in the last eight months.
The Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram, whose name loosely means “Western education is forbidden,” established the pattern of kidnapping school children in Nigeria for ransom in 2014 when the group abducted 276 mostly Christian girls from a school in Chibok. 2021 has seen several large-scale kidnappings which were originally thought to have been carried out by loosely organized bandits. Recently, Kaduna state governor El Rufai informed the public that these ransoms were used to fund Boko Haram and their extremist agenda.
Please pray for the Lord to comfort grieving families and strengthen their faith during this difficult time. Please also pray for the safe return of all who have been kidnapped, and for their captors, that their hearts would be softened, and that they will experience the love of Christ that leads to true repentance and salvation.
For interviews, please contact Addison Parker: press@persecution.org.
