tag

Nicki Minaj calls for global action on religious freedomAttack adds pressure on Nigerian government amid US scrutinyKwara governor requests more security after church attackGunmen have attacked a church in Nigeria, killing at least two people and kidnapping the pastor and some worshippers, police and witnesses said Wednesday, days after 25 girls were abducted from a boarding school.The attack on Tuesday evening in Eruku, a town in central Nigeria's Kwara state, puts more pressure on the government, which is under scrutiny from US President Donald Trump who has threatened military action over what he says is persecution of Christians.President Bola Tinubu postponed a planned trip to South Africa and Angola for G20 and AU-EU summits to receive security briefings on the two attacks, and ordered more security to hunt down the assailants in Kwara, his office said.The president also directed the security agencies "to do everything possible" to rescue the schoolgirls, "abducted by the bandits and bring the girls back home safe", his spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said. Rapper Nicki Minaj appealed on Tuesday for global action to defend religious freedom. Speaking at the US mission to the UN, the Trinidad-born artist, who lives in New York, said that in Nigeria "Christians are being targeted, driven from their homes and killed".Nigeria is grappling with an insurgency in the northeast, abductions and killings by armed gangs mainly in the northwest and deadly clashes between mainly herdsmen and mostly farmers in its central belt. The government says the US designation of Nigeria as "a country of particular concern" misrepresents its complex security challenges and does not take into account its efforts to safeguard freedom of religion for all.In the latest attack, police responded to gunfire at around 6pm on Tuesday and discovered one person fatally shot inside the church and another in a nearby bush, said Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, police spokesperson for Kwara state. Witnesses said they counted at least three dead church members. "They later rounded up some worshippers, including the pastor, and took them into the bush," parishioner Joseph Bitrus told Reuters by phone, without saying how many were taken.A video posted by a local news outlet and verified by Reuters showed the Christ Apostolic Church service being interrupted by gunfire, forcing parishioners to take cover. Armed men are seen entering and taking people's belongings as gunshots continue.The governor of Kwara asked for the immediate deployment of more security operatives following the church attack, his spokesperson said. Authorities have not yet located the girls abducted by armed men who stormed the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in northwestern Kebbi state on Monday. Vice President Kashim Shettima was expected to travel to the state to meet officials and parents.

Gunmen attacked a village in Zamfara State, northwestern Nigeria, killing a man, wounding his wife, and kidnapping 18 people, all women and children.Residents said the attackers belonged to gangs known for kidnapping and cattle-rustling, and stormed Birnin Zarma village early in the morning as residents were preparing for dawn prayers."The bandits attacked the village around 5 a.m. while people were preparing for morning prayers," Birnin Zarma resident Ibrahim Bello said. "They broke into a house and shot dead a man and injured his wife before herding 18 women and children out of the village."Lawal Umar, a resident of the neighboring town of Bukkuyum, said the attackers were believed to be from the neighboring Anka district, where they maintain camps in a nearby forest.He added that forces stationed in Bukkuyum were unable to repel the attack due to the flooding of a river separating the town from the village of Birnin Zarma, which prevented the timely arrival of security reinforcements.Birnin Zarma is located about 170 km from the state capital, Gusau, and residents are still waiting for a ransom demand from the kidnappers for the release of the hostages.For years, the states of northwestern and central Nigeria, particularly Zamfara, have witnessed a wave of violence perpetrated by armed gangs known locally as "bandits," who have recently intensified their attacks on rural villages.