Is there a ‘Christian genocide’ in Nigeria?
The Take
Al Jazeera
4.7 • 747 Ratings
🗓️ 27 November 2025
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Mass school kidnappings in northern Nigeria are back in the headlines as families beg the government to bring their children home. At the same time, President Donald Trump and US conservatives are accusing Nigeria of a “Christian genocide.” Is this really about religion or a deeper security crisis?
In this episode:
- Yinka Adegoke (@yinkawrites), Africa editor, Semafor
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Tracie Hunte, Haleema Shah, Marcos Bartolomé, and Diana Ferrero with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Melanie Marich, Fatima Shafiq, Farhan Rafid, Tamara Khandaker, and our host, Malika Bilal. It was edited by Noor Wazwaz and Kylene Kiang.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad Al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is the Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.
Connect with us:
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Al Jazeera Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | Today, a spade of schoolchildren kidnappings spreads fear in northern Nigeria. |
| 0:17.5 | And that has heaped more pressure on the government after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened military action over the alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria. |
| 0:26.6 | Why attacks like these have the U.S. President threatening to intervene in what he calls a Christian genocide. |
| 0:34.6 | I'm Malika Bilal, and this is The Take. |
| 0:47.9 | As you're watching today's show, leave us a comment telling us what you think about the security |
| 0:52.5 | situation in Nigeria, or the headlines around this story. |
| 0:56.4 | And if you're listening to this interview on your podcast app, leave us a review telling us where you're listening from and a five-star rating. |
| 1:03.8 | It helps other people discover the show. Thanks. |
| 1:10.0 | Hi, I'm Yen Kadi Guki. I'm the Africa editor for Semaphore, a digital publication based in New York and Washington, D.C. |
| 1:17.8 | Yinka, welcome to The Take. Now, Nigeria's president, Bolatanubu, has ordered a total security cordon with intensified aerial surveillance over parts of three states in the |
| 1:30.4 | north-central and northwestern part of Nigeria. And that's because there have been several |
| 1:36.1 | devastating security incidents in the span of about a week. Dunman abducted 25 girls from a |
| 1:43.6 | mostly Muslim school in the state of Khabi. |
| 1:46.7 | 38 people were kidnapped for ransom at a church in Kauara state. And then more than 300 people. |
| 1:54.6 | Students and teachers were taken from a Catholic school in the northwest state of Niger. |
| 1:59.9 | There's no evidence that these incidents |
| 2:02.1 | are connected at all, but they brought renewed scrutiny to Nigeria's security issues. So what are |
| 2:12.2 | you hearing from people there? What is the latest as far as you know? Well, the latest that we know is that |
| 2:18.5 | there's obviously an intense effort to get people to come back, to get them back. We had |
| 2:26.5 | news that 24 of the girls from that school have been returned home. There's a lot of concern because these kidnappings of these attacks haven't been happening |
| 2:40.4 | with a frequency as they've happened in the last week and a half. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Al Jazeera, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Al Jazeera and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.