American Missionary Kidnapped From Nigerian School

DAKAR, Senegal — An American missionary was kidnapped on Monday from a school in central Nigeria in an area prone to kidnappings for ransom, officials said Tuesday.

The missionary was identified as the Rev. Phyllis Sortor on the website of the Free Methodist Church. A Washington State television station, KING, said Ms. Sortor was from western Washington. In a statement on its website, the church said she had been kidnapped from the compound of Hope Academy outside Emiworo in Kogi State.

Farther north, Islamist violence in the country continued to surge on Tuesday ahead of national elections next month, with bomb blasts at bus stations in Kano and Potiskum killing at least several dozen people, officials said. The blasts bore the hallmarks of previous attacks by Boko Haram.

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The New York Times