As Nigeria’s military and the police on Sunday intensified the search for 317 abducted pupils of Government Girls’ Science Secondary School, Jangebe in Talata Mafara Local Government Area of Zamfara State, Pope Francis has prayed for their safe return.
“Let us pray that Our Lady might keep them safe,” the Pope said at the Angelus prayer on Sunday, calling the bandits’ action, vile.
The Pontiff invited everyone to pray for the girls who were kidnapped on Friday in the north-western Nigeria, so that they might return home soon.
“I am near to their families and to them,” said the Pope as he led the faithful in the recitation of the Hail Mary.
“I join my voice to that of the Bishops of Nigeria to condemn the vile kidnapping of the 317 girls, taken away from their school in Jangebe. I am praying for these girls so they might return home soon. I am near to their families,” he wrote.
Gunmen had invaded the Jangebe community on Friday, attacked some houses along their way, and raided the school where they abducted 317 students.
The girls have now been in captivity for three days, and efforts to secure their release are ongoing.
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) had also condemned the kidnapping on Friday, calling it a gross violation of children’s rights.
The Jangebe attack comes barely two weeks after scores of children were abducted by bandits from Government Science College (GSC), Kagara in Niger State.
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