J UNE 2014
P AGE 6
Kidnappings in Nigeria
Over 200 Girls Taken from School by Islamic Terrorists
Ian MacLeod, Associate Editor
On April 15, 276 girls, most aged 16 to 18
with many coming from Christian families
reports the Washington Post, were abducted by Boko Haram, an Islamic terrorist organization in the Borno state of Nigeria. That day militants in trucks arrived at
a girl‟s boarding school in the town of
Chibok, in the remote northeastern corner
of the country. According to the Washington Post, these armed men rounded the
girls up into their trucks and ransacked the
building before driving off into the dense
jungle that serves as Boko Haram‟s hideout.
Since then the BBC reported that 53 of the
girls have escaped, leaving 223 still in the
clutches of their violent captors.
Needless to say Boko Haram‟s actions
have sparked international outrage, especially after Nigerian government officials
continued to contradict themselves regarding how many girls were still missing.
Many concerned citizens in Nigeria have
protested the government‟s slow reaction
to the kidnappings. Across the globe thousands have taken to Twitter to express
concern for the girls and demand that
finding them be made a priority as part of
the #BringBackOurGirls
campaign.
also been sharing satellite imagery with
the Nigerian government and is conducting manned electronic surveillance flights.
According to the Washington Post, the
U.K. and Israel have also sent teams to aid
Nigeria and France and China have also
offered their assistance.
On May 11, the governor of the
state of Borno where Chibok is
located claimed to have intelligence regarding the whereabouts of
the over 200 girls still in the hands
of Boko Haram.
risk their lives by using force.
Who are These People?- Boko Haram,
which literally means “Western Education
is Forbidden” in the native Hausa language, is an Islamic radical group founded
in 2002 by a Muslim cleric named Mo-
“Across the globe thousands have
taken to Twitter to express concern
The following day the terrorist
group released another video, this
time including about 136 of the
kidnapped girls. In the video they
were wearing full lengths hijabs,
which are scarves and/or cloaks
that Muslim women often wear, and also
recited verses of the Koran, Islam‟s main
religious text. Making another appearance
was Shekau who offered to trade some of
the girls in return for previously captured
militants. According to the BBC, Nigeria‟s Interior Minister Abba Moro called
Boko Haram‟s attempt at setting terms for
negotiations “absurd.” The very next day
Nigerian Cabinet Minister Tanimu Turaki,
who heads a special committee with the
goal of reaching agreement with Boko
for the girls.“ - Ian MacLeod
hammed Yusef with the ultimate goal of
creating an Islamic state similar to Afghanistan under the Taliban.
In 2009, after they made multiple attacks
against various government buildings, the
Nigerian government cracked down on
Boko Haram, taking the groups headquarters, capturing and/or killing their supporters and fighters and killing Yusef himself,
later televising his corpse.
In the wake of their founder‟s death Boko
Haram have only stepped up their game
under the leadership of Abubakar Shekau.
They‟ve assassinated, ministers, policemen, politicians, and even other Islamic
clerics, generally anyone who spoke out
against them. They have also bombed
everything from buses to churches and
have pillaged a number of villages.
On May 5, Boko Haram
released its first video
since the girl‟s kidnapping. In the video the
current leader of the
Islamist group, Abubakar
Shekau, threatened to sell
the girls into slavery, and
stated that these girls
shouldn‟t have been tryi