Pope Urges Release of 300+ Kidnapped in Nigerian School Attacks
Pope Urges Release of 300+ Kidnapped in Nigerian School Attacks
Pope calls for immediate release of hostages as Nigeria faces one of its largest mass kidnappings tied to church and school attacks.
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday urged the immediate release of more than 300 hostages taken from a Catholic school in one of Nigeria's largest mass kidnappings.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said gunmen abducted more than 300 students and teachers in raids on two schools in the country, with 25 girls abducted from a secondary school in Kebbi state. A separate early Friday raid targeted St Mary’s co-education school in Niger state.
The pope expressed deep sorrow for the abducted and their families, urging that churches and schools remain places of safety and hope as he spoke at the end of the Angelus prayer.
The violence also included an attack on a church in the west of the country, in which two people were killed and dozens abducted, underscoring a surge in religiously tinged violence in the region.
The incident comes as U.S. President Donald Trump threatened military action over what he described as persecution of Christians by radical Islamists in Nigeria, highlighting growing international concern over the safety of religious communities.
Nigeria has long wrestled with a wave of kidnappings, with the Chibok girls kidnapping over a decade ago serving as a stark reminder of the country’s vulnerability; some of those girls remain missing. CAN later noted that the number of missing people continues to evolve as the situation develops, pressing for urgent action to secure the hostages' release.
Cover image source: U.S. signals broader efforts to protect Nigeria’s Christians following Trump’s military threat 🔗
