Pope Urges Freedom for Abducted Nigerian Students
Pope Urges Freedom for Abducted Nigerian Students
Pope Leo XIV has appealed for the swift release of the children and staff abducted from St. Mary’s School in northwest Nigeria, describing the incident as one of the most alarming school kidnappings the country has seen.
Gunmen stormed the Catholic institution on Friday, seizing students and teachers, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). Following a verification exercise, CAN revised the number of abducted individuals to 315, up from an initial count of 227. The group later confirmed that 50 students managed to escape from captivity.
Addressing worshippers in St. Peter’s Square during Sunday prayers, Pope Leo expressed deep distress over the rising wave of kidnappings across Nigeria and Cameroon. Six Catholic priests and a Baptist pastor were recently abducted in Cameroon’s Bamenda Archdiocese.
“I feel profound sorrow, especially for the many boys and girls who have been taken, and for their anguished families,” the Pope said. He urged authorities to take “appropriate and timely decisions” to secure the hostages’ release and prayed that churches and schools “remain places of safety and hope.”
The latest abduction adds to a disturbing surge of attacks on schools and vulnerable communities in Nigeria. The government has already ordered the shutdown of 47 schools amid rising insecurity.
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The incident also coincides with comments by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has threatened military action over what he says is the persecution of Christians by extremist groups in Nigeria.
Christian Groups Call for UN, ICC Intervention
In a related development, the Christian Social Movement of Nigeria (CSMN), alongside several Christian and civil society organisations, has called on the United Nations Security Council and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to deploy investigators to Nigeria to verify claims of genocide against Christians.
During an online briefing, CSMN’s Bosun Emmanuel argued that current conditions in Nigeria point to “incontrovertible evidence” of targeted killings of Christians by Islamist groups. The coalition expressed full support for potential U.S. intervention under international humanitarian law.
Emmanuel maintained that denying the existence of genocide does not negate the lived realities of victims, insisting that attacks perpetrated by extremist factions constitute crimes under Article II of the UN Genocide Convention.
The coalition also thanked global figures including musician Nicki Minaj and media personality Bill Maher for openly highlighting the plight of Nigerian Christians on international platforms.
Signatories to the joint statement include representatives from the National Christian Elders Forum, International Coalition Against Christian Genocide in Nigeria, Plateau Indigenous Ministers’ Association, Stefanos Foundation, and other faith and civil society groups.
Content Credit: Moyosola Oni
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