In a hauntingly familiar narrative, 315 Nigerian schoolgirls have been forcibly taken at gunpoint from their school by armed insurgents. Based on past abductions like these, authorities presume the girls were taken to be held for ransom or worse, forced labor, forced conscription and forced marriage. 

“Worst mass abductions the country has seen” 

The latest abductions comes amidst a surge of attacks by armed groups in Nigeria recently. Tragically, the number of girls taken this time surpasses the number taken as part of the infamous Chibok abduction in 2014. Even worse, the mass abduction was the third this week and international attention to the crisis has waned. Meanwhile the focus of campaigners and politicians in the US is on religion, alleging Islamist militants are systematically targeting Christians. However, the Nigerian government dismisses their claim. 

Calling it “a gross misrepresentation of reality”, The BBC reports a government official said: 

Terrorists attack all who reject their murderous ideology – Muslims, Christians and those of no faith alike. 

Indeed, while this most recent group of abducted girls are Christian, organizations monitoring violence also dispute a religious view of the abductions. Instead pointing to the fact that most of the victims of these groups are Muslim. That’s because most of the attacks and abductions take place in the majority Muslim north of the country. In this distraction, the real tragedy is being lost. Regardless of their faith, no one should fear abduction or be forced to marry or work against their will, least of all children at school.  

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