Home Christian News Six Girls, Two Staff Members Kidnapped from Christian-Run High School in Nigeria

Six Girls, Two Staff Members Kidnapped from Christian-Run High School in Nigeria

The kidnappers have contacted school officials with their demands for ransom, he said. Initially they demanded 30 million naira (US$82,327) per student before negotiating lower, according to local reports.

“We are trusting God for the protection of the captives and hoping they would be released without being hurt,” Giwa said.

The 15-year-old daughter of Julde Juli was among the abducted students.

“I was shocked on receiving the news of the kidnapping of my daughter and other students,” he told Morning Star News. “I just pray that nothing happens to them, and that they come out alive. I trust that our God is sovereign over all things. We are trusting that through divine intervention our children would be rescued.”

The high school has suspended classes, school Director Samuel Amamchukwu told Morning Star News in a text message.

“We can’t continue with academic activities while the six students and two staff are in captivity,” he said.

Remaining students have returned to their parents, he said.

The village lies in the kidnapping belt of the state and is on the route to Kwanti village, where Morning Star News last year reported the displacement of many Christians due to kidnappings by armed Fulani Herdsmen, according to area residents.

Kaduna State Police Command spokesman Yakubu Sabo said authorities are making efforts to rescue the captives.

“The Command immediately mobilized combined teams of anti-kidnapping, SARS, and conventional police to the area for possible rescue of the victims and arresting the perpetrators of the unfortunate incident,” he said.

Kaduna state Commissioner for Information, Internal Security and Home Affairs Samuel Aruwan said in a statement on Friday (October 4) that Gov. El-Rufai has dispatched a government delegation to sympathize with the school community and assure them that security agencies are working to rescue those abducted.

Nigeria ranked 12th on Open Doors’ 2019 World Watch List of countries where Christians suffer the most persecution.

This article originally appeared on MorningStarNews.org. If you would like to help persecuted Christians, click here for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.