US Missionary Kidnapped in Nigeria; $300K Demanded

Five armed men stormed a school in Nigeria yesterday morning and kidnapped an American missionary there, reports NBC News. The Rev. Phyllis Sortor, a Washington state native working with Free Methodist World Missions at the Hope Academy, was apparently targeted as she was the only one taken and no one was injured. Kidnappers have demanded $300,000 for her return, though it's not clear who they are; NBC notes that Kogi state is not an area in which Boko Haram is known to operate, and the local police commissioner thinks a criminal gang could be to blame. "She believes in God, she's doing God's work," stepson Richard Sortor tells KING-TV, adding that the abduction is "surreal, just surreal, I can't believe this." (More Nigeria stories.)