Nigeria

A Catholic priest remained missing in northern Nigeria Thursday after being abducted from his residence in Kaduna State, Worthy News learned.

A Christian farmer and evangelist in Nigeria said Monday he had fled to Lagos with his family after an Anglican priest kidnapped in the northwest last month was killed in captivity.

Desperate parents in northwest Nigeria were still missing their children Monday as the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) confirmed that suspected Islamic gunmen kidnapped at least 303 students and 12 teachers at a Catholic school — the nation’s largest such attack in more than a year.

At least scores of students were abducted from a Catholic mission school in Nigeria’s troubled North Central region early Friday, just days after gunmen attacked a church, killing two people and taking dozens of worshippers hostage, officials and witnesses said.

U.S.-based singer and rap star Nicki Minaj brought her global profile to the United Nations on Tuesday to draw attention to the mass killings of Christians in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, where more than 7,000 Christians were murdered in the first seven months of this year, according to the watchdog group Intersociety.

Gunmen abducted 25 students from a girls’ school in northwest Nigeria early Monday after killing at least one staff member, adding to fears among the nation’s Christian minority, police and other sources confirmed.

A coalition of American Christian leaders gathered on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Friday to pray and “thank President Donald J. Trump” for reportedly designating Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) over the killing of thousands of Christians by Islamic groups.

Nigeria’s government rejected on Wednesday its designation by the United States as a “country of particular concern” over alleged religious freedom violations, saying the move was based on misinformation and faulty data — despite reports that Islamic fighters killed nine Christians and a pastor in the past week as part of a deadly campaign against Christians in the nation.

Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has indicated openness to meet U.S. President Donald J. Trump after Washington warned it is reviewing military options in response to continuing attacks on Christians in Nigeria, his office said Sunday.