More than a week after the mass kidnapping of hundreds of children from a Catholic school, emotions remain raw in the religiously mixed Niger state in central Nigeria.
Predominantly Muslim, Niger state has a significant Christian population and followers of the two faiths live side-by-side in harmony.
But the November 21 kidnapping of more than 300 schoolchildren from the remote Papiri village has prompted complaints of Christian persecution — a contested narrative inflamed in recent weeks by US President Donald Trump.
Kidnappings are frequent in Nigeria and are mostly carried out by criminal gangs seeking quick ransom payments.
Africa’s most populous country is long-conditioned to
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