" Dozens of protesters gathered outside the Nigerian embassy in Madrid on Saturday, demanding international attention to what they described as the 'genocide' of Christians in Nigeria. The rally came in response to a wave of mass kidnappings targeting Christian communities, including the recent abduction of more than 300 students from a Catholic school in Niger State. Footage shows protesters holding crosses and placards reading 'Christian lives matter', 'Stop the killing of innocent Christians. All lives matter!' and 'Save Nigerian Christians, it's genocide', before concluding the rally with collective prayers. "We demand fundamental rights, such as life, freedom of expression and unity among people, so that there are not so many killings and crimes, as there have been in Nigeria and especially in the northern region," one demonstrator said, adding, "We have come here mainly for that reason, to demand that there not be so many deaths. That there be unity." Others described personal anguish over relatives and communities back home. “They are killing people in my home,” the man said. "We are not happy. We are crying so that the world will hear everything that is happening there. That is why we are here today, to tell the world what is happening there," he added. Another respondent mentioned the scale of violence amounted to targeted persecution. “What is clear is that they are killing thousands of Christians simply because they are Christians. It is genocide in every sense of the word. People of goodwill cannot allow this to happen.” The recent kidnappings in Niger State drew international attention after US President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that the United States might "go into that now disgraced country, guns-a-blazing" if the government failed to stop what he called the 'mass slaughter' of Christians. In the wake of Trump’s comments, the Nigerian Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, on Monday formally launched Nigeria's new Counter-Terrorism Strategic Plan for 2025-2030 in Abuja. The officials presented this as a shift from European security agreements to a domestic policy, due to growing pressure from the United States. Nigeria has been struggling with increasing insecurity for many years. Since 2014, over 1,400 students and teachers have been abducted as armed groups have targeted rural schools in the northwest and north-central regions of the country."