Nigerian authorities identified 13 schools—most of them private Christian institutions—as “vulnerable” and ordered them closed in the wake of a mass abduction of students from Bethel Baptist High School.
The Kaduna State Schools Quality Assurance Authority issued the closure order July 5, saying the decision was made following a meeting with the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools and “some key stakeholders.”
Earlier that day at about 1:45 a.m., assailants shooting wildly broke down a portion of the wall surrounding the Bethel Baptist High School on the outskirts of Kaduna’s capital city and kidnapped students at gunpoint. More than 100 students remain missing.
About 24 hours earlier, gunmen abducted eight people—including infants, nurses and security guards—from the residential quarters of the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Centre in the Saye District of Zaria. Gunmen also attacked the Katsit community in southern Kaduna, killing one 25-year-old man and injuring three others, including a female student at the Baptist School of Health and Technology in Kafanchan. On July 8, Pastor David Popoola of Calvary Baptist Church in Kaduna was kidnapped, and other individuals also were abducted.
In protest, residents of the Sabon Tasha District in the Kaduna state capital reportedly blocked roads in and out of the area.
Situation ‘allowed to spiral inexorably’
Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a United Kingdom-based human rights organization specializing in freedom of religion, condemned the violence in Kaduna state that precipitated the school closure order.
“The closures and withdrawal of children from educational facilities is a desperate measure, giving the unfortunate impression of an inability to address a situation that has been allowed to spiral inexorably,” said Scot Bower, CEO of CSW.
“This decision is likely to hurt the education and future prospects of the students concerned, while merely offering a short-term solution to a phenomenon which is part of a statewide crisis requiring a comprehensive response. As the other attacks that occurred clearly illustrate, people are no longer safe in hospitals, let alone in their own homes.”
CSW reported on July 9 the assailants who are holding the students from Bethel Baptist High School rejected food items they had demanded from school authorities as a condition prior to negotiation for the students’ release.
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The kidnappers had requested 30 bags of rice, 20 bags of beans, 10 kegs of palm, 10 cartons of seasoning and two bags of salt by July 9. However, when Vice Principal Wakili Madugu informed the abductors the school was able to gather only nine bags of rice, one bag of beans, two kegs of palm oil, two cartons of seasoning and a bag of salt within the stipulated timeframe, the assailants cut off communication, CSW reported.
Elijah Brown, general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, said while the abduction of the boarding school students marked “the gravest attack on the Baptist community, it is not the first” in the region.
In April, Haske Baptist Church—also in Nigeria’s Kaduna state—was attacked during a Sunday morning worship service. A health care worker was killed, and gunmen abducted four people who remain missing.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has joined others in the global community in condemning the attack on the Baptist boarding school.
“Religious freedom includes the freedom to attend religious schools and to learn and teach according to one’s beliefs,” said Commissioner Frederick A. Davie. “Abductions like these undermine religious freedom in Nigeria and heighten sectarian tensions.”
The commission noted the attack on Bethel Baptist High School marks the tenth mass school kidnapping in Nigeria since December 2020. Kaduna State has experienced significant violence in the past year that has included several attacks on churches and religious leaders
“It is unfathomable that these attacks are still happening in Nigeria with impunity,” said Commissioner Tony Perkins. “The United States must encourage the Nigerian government to do more to rescue these children and prevent future school abductions.”
In December, the U.S. State Department designated Nigeria as a “country of particular concern,” labeling it among the most egregious violators of religious freedom. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom had recommended that action since 2009.
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