On 21 November, at St Mary’s Catholic School in Niger state, more than three hundred students were abducted in a mass kidnapping - the worst such attack recorded against a Catholic school in the region. Although fifty children managed to escape and have been reunited with their families, 253 students and twelve staff members remain captive. Parents of missing children are traumatised, anxiously searching for any sign of their loved ones. This kidnapping follows several recent attacks, including the abduction of over two dozen schoolgirls in Kebbi and of 38 people attending a church service in Kwara state (though these have now been rescued). These incidents come only a few weeks after Donald Trump spoke of ‘Christian genocide’, which the government denied (see ) President Bola Tinubu has reassigned VIPs' bodyguards to core policing duties and ordered the recruitment of 30,000 new police officers, acknowledging that ‘many parts of Nigeria’ are not adequately policed. Church leaders and global voices, including the Pope, have called for urgent action to rescue the hostages and restore safety for Nigeria’s citizens. Many feel that the West doesn’t seem to care about this ongoing level of terrorism: see