Religious Attacks in Nigeria

The Pope has called on kidnappers in Nigeria to free 265 students and teachers. Fox News Radio's Jonathan Savage joins us with the details. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Pope has now called on kidnappers in Nigeria to free
some two hundred and sixty five students and teachers, this
after fifty pupils have escaped. This is West Michigan's Morning News.
Congressman Bill Heisinger yesterday on the floor, the.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Simple fact is radicalized Islamists are running amok in Nigeria.
They're terrorizing moderate Muslims, They're terrorizing Christians, and they are
targeting Christians. That cannot be disputed.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
On the story this morning on the International Desk, Jonathan
Savage with Fox News Radio in London. Jonathan, thanks for
doing this today.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
Good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
So no group has claimed responsibility. What is the latest
on this horror?

Speaker 3 (00:44):
Yeah, that's right. More than three hundred students and some
twelve staff members were kidnapped from a Catholic school in
Nigeria last week. Some are just six years old. Happened
on Friday in Nigeria's Niger State at Saint Mary's Catholic School.
Response to the kidnappings, Pope Leo pleaded for the immediate
release of those who had been taken when he was

(01:06):
giving his mass into Peter Square at the weekend. Now
fifty children did somehow manage to escape their captures. They
made it back to safety. The rest still no sign
of them as security forces are trying to track them down,
but we've not heard anything since.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
So who can intervene for these children? What group or
government or relief could possibly be on the way.

Speaker 3 (01:32):
Well in Nigeria's military is said to be leading the
fight against these armed groups, but they are stretched. It's
a vast, vast area. I mean, the state to the
part of Nigeria where this has happened is the size
of a medium sized European country, and these are events
which are happening on a daily basis, it seems. I mean,

(01:54):
last week we had two incidents. On Monday, one where
armed men stormed a Muslim girls' school and see twenty
five students, sixty four people abducted from their homes in
a different part of Nigeria. And then on Tuesday, at
a church in central Nigeria, thirty eight worshipers were abducted
and ransoms were demanded. I should say that all those

(02:16):
worshipers thankfully have been successfully and safely rescued. But you
can see that the Nigerian security forces are stretched pretty thin.

Speaker 1 (02:23):
And I guess to the purpose of the kidnappers. As
Congressman Heisenger mentioned, they seem to be targeting Christians, but
also moderate Muslims as well.

Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yeah, I think in many cases the motivation is money ransoms,
particularly with schools and churches. They're soft targets. They don't
have much security with schools in particular. I mean, it's
horrible to think about, but the view is that parents
are more prepared to raise ransoms to bring back their children,
and these seem to be following a similar passion. When

(02:54):
they happen, you have gangs. They're ascribed by locals as
bandits that they shoot sporadically. This spare to scare people,
They take people away, they vanish into nearby forests, and
they demand ransoms. But so far, with this incident to
the Catholic school, we still don't have any public claim
of responsibility, Jonathan.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
The last time something like this happened, the president, President
Trump suggested there could be some help or intervention from
the United States, any other help out there from US
or any ally.

Speaker 3 (03:24):
We haven't seen much information or much response to this
particular incident from President Trump or anybody else. There are issues,
of course, in Nigeria with Islamist groups who have conducted
some of the attacks, particularly against Christians that have been
highlighted in recent times. And there are European forces as

(03:44):
well that who are supporting the Nigerian forces and other
countries in an attempt to get to grips with them.
But over the last decade or so, the governments in
that region have been proven to be unable to really
get a handle on this long problem.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
Jonathan Savage, Fox News Radio in London. Thank you for
your time today. Thank you surely add them to your
prayers and the things that we take for granted sometimes
the ability to exercise our freedom to worship,