Unknown Nations’ Greg Kelley connected with a partner whose daughter was among the original 315 people abducted from St. Mary’s Private Catholic Secondary School in Niger state. She was also among the 50 students who escaped to safety over the weekend, praise God. 

But other news is surfacing that makes this kidnapping even more grim.

Fulani man in Nigeria. Courtesy of Pixabay.

“What we’re hearing now is it’s not so much about ransom. It’s purely about these people, and they’re Fulani bandits,” says Kelley. “It’s about them viewing this school as a soft target, them taking these girls, forcibly converting them to Islam, and then taking them on as their wives.” 

The abduction on Friday was Nigeria’s worst since the 2014 Boko Haram kidnapping of 276 Christian and Muslim schoolgirls. Dozens of those women remain missing today. 

In the aftermath of the 2014 Chibok school kidnapping, Kelley says, “I had met families who told me there were five parents — either a mother or a father — that they knew directly who died of a heart attack over the grief of it.”

Pray for God’s mercy and comfort for these families as they hope and wait. Pray for faithful endurance and miraculous deliverance of the boys, girls, and adult staff of the school. 

Gospel ministry is urgent

In the spiritual battleground of northern Nigeria, Unknown Nations’ partners continue to seek opportunities to share the good news of Christ — even today.

Nigerian children. (Photo courtesy of Victor Nnakwe/Unsplash)

“Our missionaries are working in these areas, and so it puts them in harm’s way. It puts their villages in harm’s way. A lot of times, people are scattering out of these areas. And what it does is it perpetuates the state of fear,” says Kelley. 

“There’s 100 million people who live in northern Nigeria, so it’s a massive concentration of population. Every single family now is going to be thinking twice about, ‘Do I send my child to school?’” 

Nigeria has a large Christian population in the south, but little momentum for gospel mission, says Kelley. 

“We need the church in the south to come to a place of desperation and brokenness where it’s finally mobilizing itself and sending missionaries into the north,” Kelley says. “Let’s remember, they don’t need a visa, they don’t need even a passport. They just need to get in a vehicle and drive north, and they have [an] abundance of resources to do it.” 

Ask God to stir up a greater passion for the Great Commission among believers in southern Nigeria, that they may find their place in gospel ministry to the north. 

Header photo of Nigerian church courtesy of Tosin Superson via Pexels.

First, the good news: last week’s graduation ceremony at the University of Notre Dame included a handful of Chibok survivors, PR Nigeria reports.  Others received a chance for new life from generous believers in Canada.

The University of Notre Dame’s 2022 graduating class included survivors of the 2014 Chibok kidnapping.
(Photo courtesy of PR Nigeria)

International human rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe helps Chibok survivors attend college in the U.S. through the Education Must Continue Initiative. “Two of the 11 girls brought to the U.S. were ready for college-level classes. But we didn’t have the resources to do that,” Ogebe says.

“They were only able to go to college in America because Voice of the Martyrs Canada provided funding.”

This opportunity stands in stark contrast to Nigeria’s present reality. Gunmen abducted 1,500 students last year and killed 16, the United Nations reports. Terrorism put 10.5 million students out of the classroom in 2021. Today, more than 18 million kids have lost access to education; over half are girls.

Mass kidnappings began in 2014 when Boko Haram took 276 girls from a school in Chibok. Many escaped or have been “ransomed” for payment by Nigeria’s government.

However, more than a hundred girls remain captive, like Dorcas Yakubu, who “was last seen in a ‘proof of life’ video pleading for release from the hands of terrorists,” Ogebe says.

“The Chibok abductions are now the world’s longest-running school mass abduction; 109 girls are still not back.”

Listen to the whole conversation on VOM Canada’s “Closer To The Fire” podcast.

Life in captivity

Eight years after their abduction, Chibok schoolgirls “tend to the wives and family of Boko Haram members” as informal nurses, Ogebe says.

“Boko Haram said to the Christian girls who wouldn’t deny Christ, ‘Well, you will become slaves.’ Initially, they used to fetch water and firewood, but over time, Boko Haram has trained them to become medics.”

A 14-year-old believer named Leah Sharibu fell prey to Boko Haram captors in 2018. “She’s become viral as the world’s youngest political prisoner,” Ogebe says.

After a month in captivity, the terrorists released all of Leah’s classmates, but they kept her because she refused to renounce Christ.

Today, “Leah is very much alive,” escapees tell Ogebe.

Leah Sharibu
(Photo courtesy of VOM Canada)

“One of them said, ‘I saw her (Leah Sharibu), but they wouldn’t let us come near her. I wanted to tell her that she is a hero of the faith.’”

Use the prompts listed alongside this article to pray for Leah and the remaining Chibok captives. Support persecuted Christians in Nigeria through VOM Canada.

Header image courtesy of VOM Canada.

Illia Djadi – Africa Bureau Chief at World Watch Monitor – describes a Boko Haram insurgency in northern Cameroon. “Ministers in that area are not safe,” he notes. “They had to leave the area or [be] attacked, ransacked, set on fire, destroyed by Boko Haram.

“We had a number of stories of church ministers killed by Boko Haram. Attacked and killed.”

At the same time, government forces are fighting armed separatists in western Cameroon.

Fighting in the North

(Screenshot)

Boko Haram officially began expanding its operations from Nigeria into Cameroon in October 2014. However, northern Cameroon was one of the first places authorities searched six months earlier following Boko Haram’s infamous Chibok abduction. Last month, 57 Chibok captives were spotted at two Boko Haram strongholds.

On Holy Week in April 2014, Boko Haram abducted hundreds of schoolgirls from Chibok, Nigeria, sparking international outcry. Over 50 girls escaped during the initial months of their captivity, and 106 have been released so far. One hundred are still thought to be in the grasp of terrorists.

Furthermore, Boko Haram terrorists are reportedly raiding and pillaging villages throughout northern Cameroon, stealing food and destroying property. “They (Christians) had to leave,” says Djadi.

“They had to run for their own life, for their own safety, and for the safety of their children and families.”

Fighting in the West

As explained in this report by BBC News, the clash between English-speaking separatists and Cameroon’s French-speaking government began last year. The conflict has killed hundreds since then, and approximately 436,000 have been displaced.

(Screenshot captured from Charles Wesco memorial video)

American missionary Charles Wesco was caught in the crossfire at the end of October. Wesco and his family moved to Cameroon from Indiana to begin missionary service 12 days before he was fatally shot.

“This American missionary has become [the] victim of an issue…but before him, other church ministers, leaders, have also been killed,” Djadi states.

The separatist conflict may seem limited to western Cameroon, Djadi adds, but it could quickly become a regional issue.

“That’s exactly what happened with Boko Haram. It first affected north-eastern Nigeria, and now…it is affecting northern Cameroon. It is affecting Chad, it’s affecting Niger.”

3 ways to pray for Cameroon

For their safety, believers are being told to leave both northern and western Cameroon. Djadi says the dilemma is more complicated than it appears.

“They have a strong sense of their calling, to go there even if it’s not safe,” he explains.

“That’s the key issue: what to do? There’s no easy answer.”

While the crisis in Cameroon is multifaceted, there are three specific ways you can pray. First, pray for peace.

“For missionaries [and] churches to run their ministries, they need peace,” notes Djadi.

Second, ask the Lord to protect His followers in Cameroon, and pray for wisdom as they make difficult choices. Third, “pray for the Cameroon authorities, political authorities, for wisdom.”

Header image credit alvise forcellini via Flickr.

(Image courtesy Open Doors USA)

Voice of the Martyrs USA spokesman Todd Nettleton says, “We’re coming up on two years since that kidnapping. April 14, 2014 was the day 276 girls were abducted.”

Things aren’t getting easier, and concerns for the girls are growing. Kidnapped women and girls are increasingly being used by Boko Haram terrorists as suicide bombers.

“We certainly want to pray for these girls. We know many of them were Christians that were kidnapped. We want to pray for encouragement and their protection.”

False alarm

As reported by BBC News, a young woman claiming to be one of the Chibok schoolgirls was arrested in Cameroon over the weekend. She and an older woman had crossed the border on Friday, and the little girl–her age is reportedly between 9- and 12-years-old–had explosives strapped to her body.

Yesterday morning, a senior Nigerian official confirmed to BBC that the minor was not one of the Chibok schoolgirls. The girl is from Chibok and was abducted by Boko Haram, other reports confirm, but she was not part of the group taken in April 2014.

(Photo courtesy Voice of the Martyrs)

Nonetheless, the circumstances surrounding her arrest point to a bigger concern, Nettleton observes.

“It’s not just about kidnapping; it’s not just about providing wives for their fighters. It really is about turning these kidnapped girls into weapons, into bombs.”

Around this time a year ago, Fund for Peace released a report highlighting Boko Haram’s increasing use of female suicide bombers. Since November 2014, the frequency and number of attacks involving female suicide bombers risen notably.

Despite proclamations of victory and the confidence of his fellow senior officials, the Nigerian President still has a long way to go in defeating Boko Haram.

“[Buhari] came to office as the guy who said, ‘I will take care of Boko Haram, vote for me’…. Now, he’s been in office for over a year, he wants to [show success],” says Nettleton.

“They have taken some of the territory back from Boko Haram. But to use the word ‘victory’ certainly seems premature.”

Chibok schoolgirls aren’t the only ones

The Chibok schoolgirls, though they’ve gained international attention, are not the only group of concern. Boko Haram also captured hundreds of schoolchildren from Damasak, Nigeria, in 2014 and have yet to release any details about their whereabouts.

(Photo courtesy VOM)

According to a report released the other day by Human Rights Watch, Boko Haram raided Damasak on November 24, 2014. When Nigerian forces regained control of the town the following year, with help from neighboring Niger and Chad, militants fled and took approximately 300 students with them.

The students had been attending Damasak’s Zanna Mobarti Primary School, and were between the ages of 7 and 17 at the time of their kidnapping. According to Human Rights Watch, a group of about 100 other women and children were joined with the 300 Damasak students.

Though Damasak is “the largest documented school abduction by Boko Haram militants,” officials have so far been silent on the subject. Human Rights Watch is calling on the Nigerian government to take action and address the situation.

How you can help

The whole situation can seem hopeless, but that’s why your continued involvement is so crucial. As long as people still care, hope remains for Boko Haram captives.

PRAY

(Screenshot)

Pray that the “spiritual seeds” planted by parents, teachers, and mentors of the Chibok schoolgirls will flourish, even after two years of captivity, Nettleton requests.

Pray also for the entire nation of Nigeria.

“We want to pray that good governance will happen,” says Nettleton.

“We want to pray that the government will get a handle on Boko Haram…and hopefully free some of the captives that have been taken.”

SHARE

On Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or wherever you spend most of your free time, please share this story with others. Remind your Christian brothers and sisters about the Chibok schoolgirls and the mothers who are still waiting for their daughters to come home.

SUPPORT

13-year-old Danjuma was nearly killed for his faith in Jesus. God spared his life, but his attackers left him blind and maimed. Through VOM Medical, Danjuma is getting the assistance he needs.
(Photo courtesy VOM)

The Chibok schoolgirls aren’t the only Christian population in Nigeria facing persecution from Boko Haram. “They see anything that doesn’t ‘measure up’ to their brand of radical Sunni Islam as the enemy,” Nettleton observes.

Fulfilling their mission to help persecuted Christians, VOM is “very active” in Nigeria.

“It’s a very holistic approach: encouraging, praying, and providing spiritual encouragement, but also providing very practical help, like medical care,” Nettleton explains. “[We’re] even providing prosthetics to those who have lost limbs.”

Through VOM Medical, you can help persecuted Christians targeted by Boko Haram and others.