Over 70 Abducted, 2 Killed in Nigeria School Kidnapping

06/19/2021 Nigeria (International Christian Concern) –An estimated 70 students and four teachers were abducted from the Federal Government College in Kebbi state, Nigeria on Thursday, reports The Guardian Nigeria.

According to eyewitnesses, roughly 100 gunmen attacked the school and shot sporadically, killing a police officer, and injuring two students.

Yesterday, Naija News reported that one student was killed during an attempted rescue mission.

An eyewitness and a staff member of the college, Mallam Usman, “expressed dismay” while speaking to The Guardian via telephone, lamenting that the principal of the school failed to respond, despite knowing that “bandits” had been surrounding the school for over a week.

The Kebbi State Police announced yesterday that the rescue operation is still ongoing.

Over 1000 students are estimated to have been kidnapped from educational institutions across Nigeria in the last seven months.

Last week, one student was killed and at least 10 people were abducted from the main campus of Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic in Zairia, Kaduna state.

The Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram, whose name loosely means “Western education is forbidden,” established the pattern of kidnapping school children in Nigeria for ransom in 2014 when the group abducted 276 mostly Christian girls from a school in Chibok. 2021 has seen several large-scale kidnappings which were originally thought to have been carried out by loosely organized bandits. Recently, Kaduna state governor El Rufai informed the public that these ransoms were used to fund Boko Haram and their extremist agenda.

Please pray for the Lord to comfort grieving families and strengthen their faith during this difficult time. Please also pray for the safe return of all who have been kidnapped, and for their captors, that their hearts would be softened, and that they will experience the love of Christ that leads to true repentance and salvation.