Nigeria’s defense minister resigned amid spiraling violence that prompted the country’s president to declare a state of emergency last week.
Africa’s most populous nation has long struggled to secure its territory, but attacks in the north by Islamist militias have surged recently, including the abduction last month of hundreds of schoolchildren, many of whom remain in captivity.
In all, almost 500 people have been kidnapped in the last two weeks, Nigeria’s leading newspaper reported. US President Donald Trump has threatened to intervene militarily should Nigeria fail to stem the violence against Christians, potentially compounding a diplomatic crisis on a security one.