A United States lawmaker, Riley Moore, has reacted to the abduction of schoolgirls from Government Secondary School, Maga, in the Danko-Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State.
In a post shared on X on Tuesday, Moore condemned the incident and called for prayers for the victims.
“Please join me in praying for the 25 girls who have been kidnapped and for the repose of the soul of their vice principal, who was killed,” he wrote.
While commenting further on the attack, Moore added: “While we don’t have all the details on this horrific attack, we know that the attack occurred in a Christian enclave in Northern Nigeria.”
He also urged authorities to act decisively, saying, “The Nigerian government must do more to end the rampant violence.”
The attack occurred in the early hours of Monday when heavily armed bandits stormed the school, killing the vice principal, injuring members of staff and abducting 25 students.
However, Moore’s description triggered strong pushback.
A former Senior Special Assistant on New Media to the late President Muhammadu Buhari, Bashir Ahmad, corrected the lawmaker’s claim in the comment section.
“While appreciating your concern and praying for our sisters, it is important to correct a crucial detail here — the attack did not occur in a Christian enclave,” Ahmad wrote.
“It happened within a Muslim community, and the victims themselves were Muslims. This is precisely why we keep saying that even you, Americans, either do not understand the complexity of Nigeria’s insecurity challenges, or you are deliberately pushing unholy narratives that risk worsening our already fragile unity,” he added.
The exchange comes amid renewed debates between Nigerian and U.S. officials over claims of “Christian genocide” in parts of the country — a narrative Nigerian officials have consistently rejected.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has pledged to ensure the safe return of the abducted students, expressing deep concern and assuring that it “shares in the pain of the victims” while working to bring the girls home safely.
The PUNCH
