It’s the kind of headline that breaks your heart — and then makes your blood boil. Another school in Nigeria has been attacked. Another teacher dead. Another 25 young girls stolen in the dark of night. And once again, the world shrugs, issues a few statements, and moves on.
Early Monday morning, around 4 a.m., armed gunmen — carrying what police described as “sophisticated weapons” — stormed Maga boarding school in northern Nigeria. According to authorities, the attackers rode in on motorcycles, went straight for the teachers’ housing, and allegedly executed a teacher and the school’s guard before rounding up dozens of students and vanishing into the forest. As of now, 25 girls are confirmed abducted. The count may rise. The horror already has.
Police say they’ve launched a coordinated manhunt through known escape routes and forested terrain. But we’ve heard this before. We’ve seen how these stories end — or don’t end — as families are left waiting, praying, and watching doors that never open.
A relative of one of the kidnapped girls told ABC News that they were informed two people had been killed in the assault. “They first went straight to the teacher’s house and killed him before killing the guard,” the family member said. Think about that for a moment — a coordinated, premeditated attack targeting the very people who are supposed to be safe inside school walls. That’s what these cowards brought into a schoolhouse.
Government officials, including Nigeria’s Information Minister, were quick to put out a statement. Minister Mohammed Idris said the government is “firmly committed” to recovering the girls and bringing the attackers to justice. President Bola Tinubu, we’re told, considers the protection of schoolchildren a “core duty of the state.” Strong words. Again, words we’ve heard before.
The attackers have not been identified, and no group has yet taken responsibility. But this pattern is all too familiar — and too routine — in parts of Nigeria. Criminal gangs, known locally as “bandits,” have made a business of kidnapping children. It’s not even always about ideology anymore. Sometimes it’s just money. It’s just ransom. These girls are treated like commodities.
In some cases, these abductions aren’t even linked to groups like Boko Haram or ISIS-West Africa, which have committed countless atrocities against Christian communities in the region. But that doesn’t mean this situation exists in a vacuum. This is the same Nigeria that President Donald Trump officially designated as a “Country of Particular Concern” for its horrific religious freedom violations. That designation was no coincidence. It came after years of bloodshed, church burnings, village massacres, and kidnappings carried out — often with impunity — against Christian communities.
And what has the global community done about it? Not much. More summits, more strongly worded condemnations, and yet somehow, Christian persecution continues. Children are still being taken. Parents are still being left to mourn without answers.
This week, Ambassador Mike Waltz announced that rapper Nicki Minaj — yes, that Nicki Minaj — and the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations will reportedly meet to discuss the steps the administration is taking to address the persecution of Christians abroad, including in Nigeria. Maybe this strange pairing will draw headlines. Maybe it will bring attention. But does anyone honestly believe that celebrity diplomacy is the solution to radical violence and mass child abductions?
This isn’t a publicity stunt. This is life and death. These are little girls, taken at gunpoint from their school, whose only crime was trying to get an education in a part of the world where that still comes at a cost.
And here in America, we hear about it in passing — between TikTok trends and election memes. But make no mistake: what’s happening in Nigeria is a test. A test of whether we mean what we say when we claim to defend human rights, religious freedom, and the innocent.
Surprisingly, Nicki Minaj joines forces with Trump:
So ask yourself — when 25 girls are dragged into the forest by men with guns, where is the outcry? Where are the marches? Where is the White House press briefing? Where is the accountability?
Or have we already decided some lives just aren’t worth the noise?
The world will be watching — but will it act?
