The high-stakes drama for 37 Nigerian Christians snatched from their church on Easter dragged into a 12th day as worried relatives prayed for their release and a West Virginia member of Congress criticized the Nigerian government and promised the Trump administration will back the hostages.
Armed and radicalized terrorists from the Fulani tribe marched into the farm village of Ariko, about 60 miles north of the Nigerian capital of Abuja, during a church service on April 5, killing seven men and abducting 68. But 31 members escaped, leaving 37 in the hands of the terrorists, as reported by Nigeria’s Vanguard News. At least 33 of the 37 hostages are women.
The kidnapping was confirmed by a local official representing the Ariko community and reported by TruthNigeria.
“Nigeria is the most dangerous place on earth to be a Christian. This is especially true in the Middle Belt, where radical Islamic terrorists are slaughtering Christians with impunity nearly every day,” Rep. Riley Moore, West Virginia Republican, texted to Judd Saul, founder of Equipping the Persecuted, and TruthNigeria. “This genocide is why I fought to ensure that the State Department funding bill that President Trump signed into law earlier this year makes U.S. security assistance contingent on the Nigerian government stopping the slaughter of its Christian citizens. Abuja is not meeting that standard, and I’m confident that Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio and President Trump will act accordingly to defend our brothers and sisters in Christ.”
The hostages seen in a video posted by the terrorists on Monday are believed to be in a forest compound resembling internment camps west of the town of Rijana in Kaduna state. At the hostage camps linked to Rijana, hundreds of hostages are held for months under forest canopy until their families pay ransoms ranging from $2,000 to $10,000. Many hostages die of the torturous conditions in captivity or suffer execution, according to survivors speaking to TruthNigeria.
The captors will kill the new hostages unless they receive $20,000 per head “very soon” from their relatives, Reuben Buhari, a native of Ariko and former media aide to a Kaduna governor, told The Washington Times.
Hundreds of women kidnapped by Fulani terrorists in Kaduna during the last 12 months were raped and tortured sexually daily, said Alheri Bawa, founder of a local women’s aid group. Her organization, “RaDi,” or Resilient Aid and Dialogue Initiative, is a Kaduna-based NGO that provides care and relief to internally displaced people in southern Kaduna. Ms. Bawa, who discussed the situation on a call convened by Save the Persecuted Christians on Wednesday, hails from the Adara tribe, which has endured years of persecution and crimes by criminal groups linked to the Fulani ethnic militias.
The head of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom pushed the U.S. to tie aid to the Nigerian government with stopping attacks on religious communities.
“Militant actors across Nigeria have increased their use of kidnapping for ransom to target civilians, including Christian women and children,” wrote Chair Vickey Hartzler. “This month’s Easter Sunday attack on a church, which included the abduction of 37 Christians in Kaduna State, is only one of many recent examples.
“Counter to the Nigerian government’s initial claims, those hostages remain in the custody of the kidnappers, hidden in the forest. This endemic problem demands the full attention of the Nigerian government and the international community. The United States must tie foreign assistance to the Nigerian government meeting specific benchmarks on religious freedom, such as saving current hostages and curbing militants’ escalating attacks on religious communities,” she said.
Mr. Saul, a missionary to Nigeria for eight years and a documentary filmmaker, said the Nigerian government is playing a dual role.
“We have been helping survivors of kidnapping holding camps in Kaduna State for 18 months, and one thing is clear,” Mr. Saul told The Times. “The Nigerian government knows where these camps are and is oblivious to them. It is obvious that the Nigerian government is complicit in this kidnapping.”
• Douglas Burton is the managing editor of TruthNigeria.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.