U.S. Christian Missionary Kidnapped in Nigeria

Reports from Nigeria indicate an American Christian missionary working at a local school in the village of Emiworo was kidnapped by masked gunmen on Monday.

Witness reports indicate the Reverend Phyllis Sortor was kidnapped from the Hope Academy, located in the central Nigerian village of Emiworo, on Monday morning by masked gunmen who stormed the compound.

The Free Methodist Church reported the alleged kidnapping of the American missionary on its official website.

"Early this morning we received a report that Reverend Phyllis Sortor, our missionary in Nigeria, was abducted from the Hope Academy compound in Emiworo, Kogi State, Nigeria by several persons," the church said in a statement.

Sorter, a graduate of Seattle Pacific University, has reportedly lived in Africa for the past decade building Christian schools.

A police spokesperson for the Kogi state added to al-Arabiya that Sorter, who is between 65 and 70 years old, was likely kidnapped for ransom.

"She was whisked away at around 10:00 am (0900 GMT) Monday," Kogi state police spokesman Sola Collins Adebayo told the media outlet.

Adebayo added that the kidnappers were "unknown gunmen [...] (who) came into the school premises shooting sporadically to scare away people before taking (the hostage) away into the bush."

"We are hopeful of finding her. Our suspicion is that she was picked up for ransom," Adebayo added.

The Free Methodist Church added in a statement that the U.S. Embassy and the FBI have been notified on Sorter's abduction. The Christian missionary has reportedly received some opposition in the past for building Christian schools in a country where Islam and Christian populations often clash.