Christians in Nigeria were among those plunged into uncertainty Friday, December 19, after Islamic militants stormed a remote village in north-eastern Nigeria, killing at least 33 people and kidnapping about 200 other people, survivors said.
Gunmen of Boko Haram, which fights for an Islamic state and has threatened Christians, were seen seizing young men, women and children from Gumsuri village.
The attack happened last Sunday, 14th December, but news only just emerged, after survivors reached the
city of Maiduguri.
Boko Haram has taken control of several towns and villages in the north-east where it already kidnapped
hundreds of 200 Christian school girls earlier this year.
Witnesses said last week’s incident in Nigeria involved gunmen arriving in trucks. Gumsuri is located near Chibok, where 276 schoolgirls were abducted in April.
Boko Haram said they had been converted to Islam and many have allegedly been sold as slaves. Some have
reportedly been used in suicide bombings.
The latest kidnapping came as another setback for Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian, who has come under pressure to improve security especially in areas where minority Christians and other groups have been targeted by Boko Haram.
Mike Omeri, a government spokesman, said in published remarks that the government is “outraged and
deeply saddened by this deplorable act” and said the real number of those abducted isn”t known yet.
News of the incident overshadowed news in neighboring Cameroon where the army said it killed 116 Nigerian militants who had attacked one of its bases.
More than 2,000 people have been killed in militant violence this year alone, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria, near the border with Cameroon, observers say.
