Two dead in attack on a church in Nigeria, days after the kidnapping of dozens of schoolchildren

Two people were killed in an attack on a church in central Nigeria, authorities said, just days later. dozens of schoolgirls They were kidnapped and an employee murdered in the north of the country.

No group has claimed responsibility for Tuesday night’s attack in the central Nigerian city of Eruku. Police responded to the gunfire and found one person shot dead inside the church and another nearby, Kwara state police spokesperson Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi said in a statement.

Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in a statement on Wednesday praised Nigerian President Bola Tinubu for the deployment of 900 additional troops there.

Tinubu has delayed his departure to South Africa, where he was scheduled to attend the Group of 20 summit of the world’s leading rich and developing nations this weekend following the attack and kidnapping of 24 schoolchildren on Monday, a spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, said in a statement.

One of 25 students kidnapped in northwestern Nigeria escapes

Twenty-five schoolgirls were reported to have been kidnapped on Monday at the Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga town in Kebbi state, but one escaped and is now safe, the school’s principal told The News on Tuesday. Hunters were searching for the remaining missing students in the woods near the school.

No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings. According to analysts and locals, bandit gangs often kidnap schools, travelers and remote villagers for ransom.

Local police said gunmen scaled the fence of the school compound and exchanged gunfire with police officers before taking the girls and killing a staff member.

Trump asks Pentagon to “prepare for possible action” over persecution of Christians in Nigeria

Meanwhile, President Trump earlier this month He claimed that Christianity faces an “existential threat” in Nigeria and told the Pentagon to begin preparing for possible military action in the West African nation.

In a post on Truth Social late last month, Trump accused the Nigerian government of not doing enough to prevent the killings of Christians, saying that the United States “could very well enter that now-disgraced country, ‘with guns’ to completely eliminate the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”

The Nigerian government has vehemently rejected the claims. Tinubu has said that the characterization of Nigeria as a religiously intolerant country does not reflect the national reality. While Christians are among the targets, analysts say most of the armed groups’ victims are Muslims in Muslim-majority northern Nigeria, where most attacks occur.

“Religious freedom and tolerance have been fundamental principles of our collective identity and always will be,” Tinubu said on November 1. “Nigeria opposes and does not encourage religious persecution. Nigeria is a country with constitutional guarantees to protect citizens of all religions.”

Nigeria’s central region has been plagued by violence for years, as local herders and farmers often clash over limited access to land and water. The clashes have also taken on a religious dimension, giving rise to militias that side with mostly Muslim shepherds or farmers from Christian communities.

Northern Nigeria is often the scene of attacks by the resurgent Boko Haram group, affiliated with the Islamic State group and armed gangs.