Bring Back Our Girls Again!

 

More than 300 students and staff were abducted from a Catholic School in the Northern Region of Nigeria on Friday. International Christian Concern (ICC) President Shawn Wright issued a statement (see bottom of this release), calling on government leaders to do more to protect vulnerable Christian communities. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) raised its estimate on Saturday of those taken from St. Mary’s School in Niger state on Friday to 315, including 303 students and 12 teachers, from an earlier estimate of 227. It is one of the worst kidnappings in the nation’s history, which has unfortunately become a flashpoint for Christian persecution. “Our hearts break, and we pray for the families affected by this latest tragedy,” Wright said. “The government of Nigeria must do more to protect Christian communities after years and years of ineffectiveness and empty promises. Yes, it’s a complex situation in Nigeria, but Christians have suffered from extremists’ attacks while government officials and much of the world have looked the other way.” Officials in Nigeria said on Saturday that no group has claimed responsibility for the most recent attack, but Islamic extremists have long terrorized the country. The Associated Press noted that Friday’s St. Mary’s School kidnapping in Niger state’s remote community comes four days after 25 schoolkids were taken in neighboring Kebbi state. The Trump Administration and members of the U.S. Congress have recently pressured the Nigerian government to do more to protect Christians. Estimates vary, but conservatively, more than 50,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria during the past 20 years, with hundreds of thousands more displaced. With CAN’s revised estimate of the number abducted, the recent school kidnapping was the nation’s worst since the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram seized 276 Chibok schoolgirls in 2014. Boko Haram is one of several militant groups operating in Nigeria with ties to radical Islam. The terrorist group has highly targeted Christians, but also the government, and Muslims who haven’t joined their cause. After Boko Haram declared allegiance to the Islamic State in 2015, part of the group splintered a year later into a separate terrorist group, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Local extremists and radical Fulani militias have also attacked and displaced Christian farmers and communities. The Trump Administration recently named Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for failing to protect Christians. Nigerian officials have not had an effective response to the violence or protected vulnerable communities, such as in southern Kaduna state, where Muslim extremists have attacked Christians. ICC has served persecuted Christians in Nigeria for decades and documented countless attacks through news articles and special reports. To help persecuted believers, ICC has launched aid projects, such as communal farms and Christian schools in Nigeria, and supported legislation on Capitol Hill that has pressured Nigerian officials. Nigeria has also been featured in ICC’s annual Global Persecution Index as one of the worst places to be a believer in Christ. ICC President Shawn Wright Issues Statement for Nigerian and U.S. Officials After Recent Kidnapping “As President of the International Christian Concern (ICC), I am issuing a strong and urgent call to action in response to the horrific abduction of more than 300 students and 12 staff members this week from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Niger State, Nigeria. To the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria: Your people — the students, teachers, and families of St. Mary’s — are in grave danger. This brazen assault on the innocent highlights a systemic breakdown in basic protection of Christians and schoolchildren in Nigeria. You must act now: Deploy specialized rescue forces immediately and recover the abducted       Christians without delay. Every hour that passes compounds trauma and risk. Ensure full accountability: Investigate and prosecute the perpetrators — those who stormed the school in the early morning hours — bringing them to justice in accordance with Nigerian law. Strengthen protection for Christian institutions: Boarding schools, churches, and Christian communities cannot continue to operate under constant threat of violence and kidnapping. You must enact and enforce robust security protocols, including early warning systems, secure perimeters, and close coordination with local law enforcement. Address underlying persecution: This attack is symptomatic of the wider climate of hostility faced by Christians in Nigeria. Government policy must explicitly recognize that Christians are a vulnerable group and guarantee equal protection under the law. Communicate transparently with families and the public: Keep them informed of rescue efforts, security changes, and the government’s plan to prevent future tragedies. Silence or obfuscation only breeds fear, mistrust, and further victimization. Inaction is not an option. The world is watching. Your citizens deserve better. To the Government of the United States of America: The kidnapping of 300+ Christian students in Nigeria is a glaring emblem of the intolerable persecution that Christians face around the world. The U.S. has a pivotal role to play — and I call on you to move with urgency and resolve: Immediately enact progressive economic sanctions, leveraging the recent CPC (Country of Particular Concern) designation to hold accountable those       Nigerian government officials, regional authorities, or entities who fail to protect religious minorities or are complicit in persecution. Condition assistance on results: Future U.S. aid to Nigeria — whether military, security, or development — must be contingent upon tangible improvements in protecting Christians and religious minorities. Support civil society & Christian organizations: Facilitate resources, intelligence sharing, and capacity-building for organizations protecting       persecuted Christians in Nigeria. Use diplomatic influence: Make clear publicly and privately that attacks on Christian children and schools will carry costs — for the perpetrators and for those who allow or enable them. The values the United States claims to uphold demand more than words. In the face of abducted Christian children, your actions — or lack thereof — send a message. Let it not be one of paralysis but of protection, justice, and solidarity. Final Word When children are hauled from their dormitories, when Christian teachers are terrorized, when entire communities live in the shadow of fear — silence is complicity. As ICC’s President, I stand with the kidnapped students of St. Mary’s and their families. I call on Nigeria’s government to act decisively and on the U.S. government to enforce the consequences of its own designations. Let this be a turning point: Not merely another headline of horror, but the moment the international community said enough — and stood firmly for the vulnerable. We will not forget. We will not relent. We will see justice done.” Shawn Wright, ICC President To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. Since 1995, ICC has served the global persecuted church through a three-pronged approach of assistance, advocacy, and awareness. ICC exists to bandage the wounds of persecuted Christians and to build the church in the toughest parts of the world.