from The Engravers' College.
Photo: Church in Chains
The six students and two staff members of a Christian-run school in Kaduna state who were kidnapped on October 3rd have thankfully been released on October 26th. To review a previously posted report providing more information on the original incident, read this page.
Police claimed responsibility for the rescue, stating that they had "intercepted" the students and staff, and rescued them unhurt. Parents of the students, however, insist that the police did not rescue their abducted children and the schoolteachers but that instead a ransom was paid resulting in their release. Police then picked up the victims after they had been set free.
Ohemu Fredrick, a spokesman for the parents, told reporters that the girls and teachers were tortured each time there was a phone call, so that their cries could be audibly heard. Throughout their captivity, they had been fed only rice mixed with palm oil.
Kidnapping for ransom has become a major source of income for terrorist groups that are seeking to advance their Islamic agenda and, in the process, often specifically targeting Christians. To learn more about the difficulties experienced by the followers of Christ in Nigeria, go to our online country report.
Praise God for the safe release of these eight most recently kidnapped individuals. Pray for their continued emotional and physical recovery from the trauma they experienced in captivity, and that their concerned families will be able to recover as well. May those responsible for the abduction be brought to justice, so that the criminal activities of Nigeria's terrorist groups will be abated. Of even greater importance, pray that the perpetrators themselves be delivered from darkness -- rescued from the 'enemy of their souls' -- and brought into the light of God's love and truth.
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