By Cecilia Seppia 

Another mass abduction has taken place

More than 300 students and teachers at the Catholic school of St. Mary in the Agwara district were forcibly taken and abducted by masked militiamen who stormed in on motorcycles and pick-up trucks.

The mass abduction, in Niger State, in western Nigeria, carried out by an unidentified armed commando, marks the latest such tragedy.

The episode comes just one week after the kidnapping of 25 female students in Kebbi State and the attack on the Church of Eruku, in the western state of Kwara, on 18 November.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the act committed during the night or issued ransom demands, but it is plausible that Boko Haram terrorists are behind it.

The response of the United States

At the beginning of the month, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a rapid military intervention in Nigeria, which has been placed on the list of unsafe countries, in response to what he calls “a persecution of Christians.”

He also stated that he would immediately cut off aid and assistance to Nigeria if these episodes of terror did not stop. But the country’s government denied that Christians in the country were being persecuted, stressing instead that the attacks targeted all Nigerians regardless of religious affiliation.

For his part, Jonathan Pratt, head of the Bureau of African Affairs at the U.S. State Department, said that Washington is considering imposing sanctions and taking counter-terrorism actions in Nigeria, with help from the Pentagon, to pressure Nigeria to address violence against Christians in the country.

“This plan includes the involvement of the Treasury in sanctions and also the War Department in counter-terrorism, in addition to further efforts to protect religious communities,” Pratt explained, adding that Washington is especially reviewing the security assistance provided to the Nigerian government and how it is using resources, as well as the sharing of information and intelligence.

Pain and condemnation from the Diocese

“We receive with deep sorrow the news of the kidnapping of pupils and teachers from St. Mary’s school in the Agwara district,” said Abubakar Usman, Secretary to the Government (SSG) of Niger State, adding that “the exact number of people kidnapped is not yet available.” Usman also noted that, due to increasing insecurity in the area, the local government had ordered the temporary closure of all boarding schools as a precaution.

“Unfortunately, however, St. Mary’s school resumed academic activities without informing the authorities, exposing students and staff to an avoidable risk,” he added.

In a statement of the Diocese of Kontagora, sent to the Vatican’s Fides news agency, Diocesan Secretary Jatau Luka Joseph states that a security staff member was seriously injured during the attack, which is believed to have occurred between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. local time.

“The Diocese of Kontagora,” the statement reads, “strongly condemns the attack and expresses deep concern for the safety of the kidnapped children and their families. Security agencies were immediately informed and have launched coordinated efforts to ensure that the hostages may return safely.”

Jihadist insurgency

In Nigeria, mass kidnappings for extortion are quite frequent. In the central and north-western states of the country, Africa’s most populous nation and also one of its richest in oil, they are usually committed by criminal gangs that authorities generically refer to as “bandits.”

The northern part of the country has also been grappling for nearly twenty years with a jihadist insurgency that, according to the United Nations, has caused 40,000 deaths and over two million displaced people.