Nigerian president announces release of dozens of Christians kidnapped from a church
Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Sunday announced the liberation of “38 worshippers” kidnapped by gunmen from a church in Iroko, Kwara State, last Tuesday, in an attack that killed two people.
Tinubu explained in a post on the X platform that the liberation was made possible thanks to the efforts of the Nigerian security forces over the past few days.
He expressed his happiness with the return of “51 pupils” who were recently kidnapped from a Catholic school in Niger state, adding that he is “closely monitoring the security situation, across the country, and receiving constant updates from the front lines”.
He stressed that “every Nigerian in every state has the right to security”, pledging to make this nation safe and protect the Nigerian people.
Earlier in the day, a Christian association reported that 50 of the more than 300 pupils abducted on Friday from a Catholic school in the west of the country managed to escape and returned to their families.
Security concerns are growing in Nigeria after two recent mass kidnappings at two schools and an attack on a church, while US President Donald Trump has threatened military action in response to what he described as the persecution of Christians by radical Islamists in Nigeria.
