Nigeria: Two Christian girls abducted by Boko Haram rescued after 9 years in captivity
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Two young Christian women in Nigeria have been rescued after being abducted by Boko Haram terrorists over nine years ago, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
Major General Ibrahim Ali, who leads Nigeria’s military efforts against the country’s northeastern Islamic insurgency, said Nigerian troops had rescued the girls, and they had been reunited with their families.
Now in their 20s, Hauwa Maltha and Esther Marcus were among some 300 school girls who were abducted from their school in Chibok, Nigeria in 2014, ICC reports. The girls were forced to “marry” Boko Haram fighters and “convert” to Islam.
“Boko Haram has killed tens of thousands of Christians in Nigeria and displaced millions to discard western influence and impose strict Islamic Sharia law,” ICC said in its report.
“They target those who do not share their radical interpretation of Islam, often attacking villages and forcefully converting Christians, other religious minorities, and Muslims who they believe do not appropriately adhere to the teachings of Muhammed.”
ICC said that attacks against Christian communities in Chibok have been ongoing, despite assurances from the Nigerian army that Boko Haram has been defeated.
Nigeria ranks 6th on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2023 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
“Please pray for the end of the Boko Haram insurgency and for the Lord to soften the hearts of militants, who all too often are children forced to partake in heinous acts of violence,” ICC requested in its report. “Please also pray for those who have been victims of terrorism, for the Lord to heal them and strengthen the church amid persecution.”
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