Nigeria: Another 73 schoolchildren kidnapped

Leah Sharibu - image: © ACN

Source: Fides/NIgerian Bishops Conference

Seventy three pupils were kidnapped from a day secondary school in the village of Kaya, in the State of Zamfara northwest Nigeria on 1st September. The news of yet another kidnapping comes a few days after the release of three other groups of hostages who were abducted in the federal State of Niger in northern Nigeria in May, apparently after the payment of a ransom.

Since December, more than 1,000 students have been kidnapped from schools in northern Nigeria.

Describing the situation as 'intolerable' the Bishops said:"The abductions of school children present us with the prospects of a traumatized generation of young people."

In a statement at the end of their second plenary meeting the bishops said: "life has never been so cheap." In addition to the scourge of kidnappings of students, adults, and members of the clergy, the Bishops express their grave concern at the general upsurge of violence across the country.

"Regrettably, except for the civil war, our nation has never witnessed the kind of widespread evil, wanton destruction and murderous bloodletting". "Deaths at the hands of kidnappers, killer herdsmen, bandits, terrorist groups have made Nigeria one of the most terrorized countries in the world", say the Bishops, who are calling upon the government to "take full responsibility for the present culture of violence."

Addressing the Catholic faithful, the Bishops said: "as Christians, we are called to constantly hope in God who never fails. We, therefore, call on Nigerians to hope for a better Nigeria knowing full well that without hope we as a people cannot move forward." "May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of all consolation and Queen of Nigeria continue to intercede for our country", they conclude.

The Christian girl by the UK's All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Religious Freedom and Belief. kidnapped on 19th February 2018 is still missing. The girls abducted with her were freed, but Leah is being kept in captivity because she refused to renounce her Christian faith. Her case has been taken up by the UK's All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Religious Freedom and Belief.