More than 300 schoolchildren are believed to have been abducted from a Catholic school in Nigeria on Friday, one of the worst mass kidnappings ever recorded in the country.
Armed men reportedly attacked the Catholic school of St. Mary’s in Niger state, and abducted 303 pupils and 12 teachers, both males and females of varying ages, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), an umbrella group of Christian organizations in the country.
The attack capped a week of similar kidnappings across Nigeria that targeted both Christians and Muslims, some of which appeared to be financially motivated. On Monday, 25 Muslim school girls were kidnapped from a school in Kebbi in an armed attack that resulted in the death of the school’s Vice Principal, and another 64 people were abducted from their homes in Zamfara state, which borders Kebbi, local media reported.
The next day, a live stream captured a gunman attacking a Christ Apostolic Church in Oke Isegun in the Kwara State, leaving two dead and over 30 people abducted and missing. One church official told Reuters that the kidnappers had demanded around $69,000 in ransom per person.
Read More: How to Actually Stop the Violence in Nigeria
The attacks come just weeks after President Donald Trump warned he would send the U.S. military “guns-a-blazing” to Nigeria over reports of attacks on Christians in the West African nation.
The latest attacks on Christians are likely to pile more pressure on Nigeria’s government and raise the possibility of the Trump Administration taking more direct action in the country.
If confirmed, the Niger attack would exceed the mass abduction of 276 schoolgirls by the Islamist terror group Boko Haram in 2014, which drew global outrage and an international campaign to free them.
But experts say the motivations behind the spate of abductions are complex and not necessarily driven by religious motivations. A report by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies released last…
