A United States lawmaker has voiced concern over the recent abduction of 25 schoolgirls from Government Secondary School in Maga, located in Kebbi State, North Western Nigeria.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, Riley Moore expressed condolences for the victims and called for prayers for the abducted students and the vice principal, who was killed during the attack.
Moore also commented on the religious context of the attack, and urged Nigerian authorities to act decisively. The attack took place in the early hours of Monday, when heavily armed assailants stormed the school, killing the vice principal, injuring staff members, and abducting 25 students.
However, the religious characterization of the attack was contested by Bashir Ahmad, former Senior Special Assistant on New Media to the late President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a public comment, Ahmad clarified that the incident occurred within a Muslim community and that the victims themselves were Muslims.
He warned that framing such attacks as targeting Christians risks misrepresenting Nigeria’s complex security challenges and could exacerbate societal tensions.
The exchange highlights ongoing debates between Nigerian and US officials regarding claims of “Christian genocide” in parts of the country, a narrative Nigerian authorities have consistently rejected.
