167 Taken From Karu: Dede Laugesen Calls for Investigation and Accountability

In this video statement, Dede Laugesen, President of Save the Persecuted Christians, says Nigerian officials are denying an alleged attack in Karu in which 167 people were reportedly taken into hostage-for-ransom camps in Rijana Forest—camps she compares to an “open-air Auschwitz.” Laugesen says contacts on the ground, including members of Nigeria’s Adara community, have confirmed the attack to her but are afraid to speak publicly. She calls for an independent investigation, asks why journalists are not being allowed into the area, and claims local reports were “covered up” after the BBC was contacted. Laugesen urges President Trump and the international community not to accept what she describes as false denials, warns that captives may face starvation, torture, or execution, and argues that Nigeria’s ransom-camp system persists—sometimes near military installations—without being dismantled. She concludes with a prayer and an appeal for urgent action, describing the violence as part of a broader genocide against Christians in Nigeria.

TRANSCRIPT:

[00:00:00] Dede Laugesen: Hi there, friends. This is Dede Laugesen. I’m President of Save the Persecuted Christians. I’m hearing news that officials on the ground in Karu are denying the attack in which 167 souls were taken into the “open-air Auschwitz” hostage camps of Rijana Forest. It is devastating.

We know that officials in Nigeria—and friends from the Adara tribe in Nigeria—have confirmed to me that the attack did indeed take place, but they can’t speak out because it’s too dangerous for them. The world needs to investigate what happened in Karu. Why won’t they let journalists into the area?

[00:01:00] The local chief contacted the BBC and said that an attack had happened, and shortly thereafter the county chairman showed up and the whole story—the whole narrative—was covered up.

President Trump, please do not listen to these lies. I believe what happened in Karu. I believe 167 souls’ lives are now in imminent peril. Please, President Trump, do not listen to the lies they are peddling from Nigeria.

167 souls have been added to the total of thousands who are being held hostage right now in Rijana Forest, near to where this attack occurred. And those hostage camps—many of them, throughout Nigeria—have been exposed over the last year. They are located near military installations.

[00:02:00] They have not been raided. This kidnap-for-ransom industry that operates in Nigeria is right now being protected in Kaduna. The world must not accept the lies being told on the ground.

The people who have been taken off into the forest to be starved and tortured and murdered are likely going to now be exterminated, because to free them would be to upset the false narrative that is being spun up in Nigeria right now.

This is a moment when the world needs to take action and hold these Nigerian authorities accountable for their lies and deception about the attacks happening on Christians in Nigeria.

We pray for them. Lord God Almighty, cover the people who have been taken into the Rijana Forest. Send your holy angels to guard and protect them, Lord. Free them. Rouse the hearts of the world to their defense. Let us find them and let us free them.

[00:03:00] This is not a time to waver in what we know to be true. A genocide of Christians is happening in Nigeria.

Thanks for listening today. We’ll have more later.