It is now believed 303 children and 12 teachers have been taken hostage by gunmen in Nigeria after a more detailed count was released by the Christian Association of Nigeria. They were abducted from St Mary’s School in north-central Nigeria.

This follows an earlier abduction of 25 Christian schoolchildren.

While no group has claimed responsibility, they are believed to be one of the Islamic groups operating in the area conducting similar raids.

Relatives of the children have been largely left in the dark, with one grandfather issuing a statement to the press: ‘We don’t know what is happening now because we have not heard anything since this morning.’

Schoolchildren are not the only group at risk, with Christian churches across the nation targeted with a mixture of abduction and mass murder.

Reports indicate over 100 Christians were murdered by Islamic fighters in the last month in what many are calling an attempted genocide.

These Islamic groups are perpetuating shocking acts of violence including rape, mutilation, and torture.

For reasons known only to the UN and activist groups, Islamic violence against Christians goes largely unnoticed. The butchered women and children, erased from the world purely because of their faith, are not involved in ‘colonial acts of oppression’ or some sort of useful Marxist power struggle. Their misery and death at the hands of Islamic groups does not fit the preferred narrative.

The only world leader who appears to be taking the genocide against Christians seriously is US President Donald Trump.

He released the following on Truth Social:

‘If the Nigerian government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the USA will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, “guns-a-blazing” to completely wipe out the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities. I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians! WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!’

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s department replied:

‘Yes sir. The killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria – and anywhere – must end immediately. The Department of War is preparing for action. Either the Nigerian government protects Christians, or we will kill the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.’

Listen to how the BBC chose to report the issue (compared to their coverage of Gaza):

‘Trump did not say which killings he was referring to, but claims of genocide against Nigeria’s Christians have been circulating in recent weeks and months in some right-wing US circles.’

What?

Surely the BBC means, ‘taking place in Nigeria as reported by’?

They then say: ‘Groups monitoring violence say there is no evidence to suggest that Christians are being killed more than Muslims in Nigeria.’

Christian groups must be imagining all these Islamic raids stealing children and murdering worshippers.

Nigerian officials are insisting that Christians are not being targeted by Islamic groups, but their claims have been strongly contested by local Christian advocacy groups. Jihadists are well-known the world over for their desire to murder Christians.

Say what you like about Donald Trump’s tweeting of thinly-veiled threats, but after decades of inaction the Nigerian government appears to have taken him seriously. (Or at least, they assume he is serious about cutting off aid…)

Tweeting yesterday, Hegseth said:

‘Yesterday, I met with Nigeria’s National Security Advisor and his team to discuss the horrific violence against Christians in their country. Under POTUS leadership, DOW is working aggressively with Nigeria to end the persecution of Christians by Jihadist terrorists.’

Details of the meeting are sketchy.

What we do know is that Nigeria is not happy about the US branding them ‘A Country of Particular Concern’. They claim it is based on misinformation and faulty data. The US thinks that’s a load of nonsense.

‘The characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality, nor does it take into consideration the consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians,’ complained President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Nigeria can protest all it likes, but Christian activist groups are relieved that someone is finally paying attention to the bloodshed with the death toll estimated at 56,000 Christians since 2009.

By all accounts, the US will be seeking both assurances and conclusive proof that the Nigerian government is acting to protect Christians which make up a little under half of the population. Christians are in decline and Islam is rising, not least through terror, murder, and displacement.