Report: Many women and children feared abducted by Boko Haram
Up to 200 women and children living in a displacement camp in northeast Nigeria are feared to have been abducted by Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram.
New reports indicate that up to 200 displaced people may have been taken by insurgents from Gamboru Ngala, a market town in Borno State, Nigeria, while on their way to collect firewood.
An Open Doors Spokesperson said: “We are horrified at this latest mass abduction of mostly women and children by Boko Haram in Nigeria and call for their immediate release.
“For many of us this will be a reminder of when 276 mostly Christian female students aged from 16 to 18 were kidnapped by the Islamist terrorist group from their secondary school in Chibok – which was also from Borno State – in April 2014.
“But these are not isolated abductions. Attacks and kidnappings – particularly in the North of Nigeria – have seriously worsened over the last decade. Christians are among those who are especially targeted.
“The Nigerian Government is failing to discharge it’s duty to protect its citizens from violence and attacks.
“Arms proliferation, impunity and Government inaction has allowed the expansion of Boko Haram and increasing violence in the north of Nigeria, where attacks by armed bandits on villages and schools are becoming endemic.”
According to Open Doors research, more than 37,500 people are estimated to have been killed since Boko Haram’s insurgency started in 2011.
Nigeria is ranked at number six on Open Doors’ World Watch List, an annual ranking of the top 50 countries where life for Christians is the most dangerous.
Please pray
- Join us in praying for all those who were taken in this attack. Pray that Christians among them will stand firm in their faith, that their commitment and obedience will be testimony of God.
- Pray for the government and that every effort will be taken to find and safely return every person to their family.
- Pray for the safety of displaced Christian women and children who are especially vulnerable in formal and informal IDP camps.
- Pray for the Boko Haram/ISWAP fighters who are committing these atrocities.
