General view of a classroom at St. Mary Catholic School in Papiri, in the Agwarra municipality, Niger State, on November 23, 2025. IFEANYI IMMANUEL BAKWENYE / AFP
Although such attacks have long been frequent in Nigeria, the three kidnappings carried out in quick succession over the past week could not have come at a worse time for President Bola Tinubu and his government. The three attacks targeted two schools and a church in the north and west of the country, further weakening the Nigerian president, both because of the unprecedented scale of these kidnappings – more than 365 people abducted in total – and because of the particularly sensitive political timing.
Tinubu is finding himself walking a tightrope after US President Donald Trump accused Nigerian authorities on November 1 of allowing "the killing of Christians" by jihadist groups. That accusation gained traction among conservative Christian circles in the US, to the point that Trump decided to put Nigeria on the list of countries "of particular concern" regarding religious freedom – even though terrorism in Nigeria actually claims more Muslim victims than Christian ones.
Subscribers only
American evangelicals' new offensive in Africa
