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Tag: missing schoolgirls
U.S. Aid Won’t Solve Nigeria’s Boko Haram Troubles, Experts Say

U.S. Aid Won’t Solve Nigeria’s Boko Haram Troubles, Experts Say

By Nancy A. Youssef, McClatchy Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Amid growing international outrage, the U.S. government has sent 30 military, intelligence and law enforcement advisers to Nigeria to help find 270 teenage girls kidnapped a month ago by Boko Haram, that nation’s most feared armed faction. But in a nation where government forces are distrusted and politicians are resistant to accept help, how much can the U.S. effort help to, as the Twitter hashtag urges, #bringbackourgirls?

Boko Haram’s grip on Nigeria, particularly in the northeast, where the girls were snatched, is wide and thorough, running through every sector of government. A year ago Wednesday, Nigeria declared a state of emergency in three northeastern states, saying terrorists had created “fear among our citizens and a near-breakdown of law and order in parts of the country.” Since 2010, at least 300 students have been killed in attacks by Boko Haram, which loosely translates as “Western education is forbidden.” The group has said it kidnapped the girls because they needed to be married off rather than schooled.

Yet until this case, the Nigerian government was reluctant to publicly pressure Boko Haram. In February, for example, at least 29 male students were killed, many of them burned alive, after Boko Haram forces stormed their dormitory in the state of Yobe, setting it ablaze. The female students were reportedly told to leave and get married instead. In the hours before the attack, the school guards mysteriously vanished. In July, Boko Haram attacked another school in Yobe state, killing 42 people, mostly students. Both attacks spurred little response from national officials.

Five years ago, Boko Haram operated as a quasi-legitimate organization with the backing of some politicians. Since then it’s wrested control of the northeast from government forces, who either are aligned with it or don’t act against it out of fears of attacks on their families.

As one former defense official who worked on U.S. Africa Command issues explained: The U.S. “will have to be careful who it shares the intelligence with.” The official spoke only on the condition of anonymity, in order to talk freely.

Students of the country say local leaders must take the initiative to rescue the girls. But that’s also fraught with difficulty. Tribal sheikhs in the area fear Boko Haram and distrust a central government that’s done little to stop the group’s spread.

Among the recommendations the U.S. has made to the central government, the State Department said Wednesday, is urging it to develop better communications with the country’s local governments. Experts say another recommendation should be to reject a proposal from Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau to exchange the girls for imprisoned militants. He made the offer in a video released Monday that showed some of the girls.

“Put pressure on locals to find these girls because Boko Haram is among the population,” said Jacob Zenn, an expert on Boko Haram with the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington-based research and analysis firm.

Many think the greatest help the United States could extend, beyond rescuing the girls, is to help Nigerians fight for a government that isn’t so vulnerable to the burgeoning Boko Haram influence.

“I think there is a role for the U.S here,” said retired Army Gen. Carter Ham, who led the African Command until last year. Citing the U.S. designation of Boko Haram as a terrorist organization, Ham said the U.S. now could identify the group’s international financiers and search for links between it and al-Qaida’s North Africa affiliate, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb. Most importantly, the United States can press Nigeria to solve the country’s internal economic issues.

“The greatest impact we can have is to press the Nigerian government to address the pressing issues that make young men vulnerable to Boko Haram recruiting,” Ham said. “Our efforts on the non-military front can be more helpful.”

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AFP Photo/Robert MacPherson

Boko Haram Says It Is Willing To Negotiate Release Of Nigerian Girls

Boko Haram Says It Is Willing To Negotiate Release Of Nigerian Girls

By Kristin Palitza

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — The Islamist extremist sect Boko Haram said Monday that it is willing to negotiate with Nigeria’s government over the release of more than 200 schoolgirls it abducted four weeks ago.

The group released a video demanding the release of all imprisoned insurgents in Nigeria in exchange for the teenagers.

Hundreds of Boko Haram prisoners are held in various detention centers across the West African nation. Some, including former leader Kabiru Sokoto, have received heavy prison sentences for terrorism.

Thousands of people have been killed in attacks since the Boko Haram insurgency began in 2009.

Monday’s video, obtained by news agency Agence France-Presse, showed about 130 veiled girls reciting the first chapter of the Quran.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said the teenagers had converted to Islam.

In a previous video, Shekau threatened to sell and enslave the girls, who were abducted on April 14 from a boarding school in the town of Chibok.

Until now, the government has been unable to find any trace of the girls, some of whom reportedly had been taken to neighboring Cameroon and Chad.

President Goodluck Jonathan has been widely criticized for his inability to curb Boko Haram attacks in the north of the country and a slow response in trying to rescue the teenagers.

The government ignored warnings of a planned raid on the state-run boarding school from which the girls were abducted, human rights watchdog Amnesty International said.

The kidnapping caused an international outcry, with the United States, Britain, Israel, China, France and Canada pledging support in the search for the girls.

President Barack Obama has sent help in the form of military officials, investigators and forensics experts.

French President Francois Hollande said he was planning to host an anti-terrorism summit with Nigeria and its African neighbors in Paris on Saturday to debate strategies to counter Boko Haram.

Nigerian police offered a reward of $310,000 to anyone providing a lead on the whereabouts of the abducted children.

Tens of thousands of people around the world, including first lady Michelle Obama, have joined the #BringBackOurGirls social media campaign.

At Nigerian embassies in countries such as South Africa, London and New York, thousands of people have taken part in related protests.

The U.N. warned Boko Haram, which means “Western education is sinful,” that its actions may be judged as crimes against humanity, a label for severe and systematic acts of violence.

AFP Photo/Pius Utomi Ekpei
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New Boko Haram Video Claims To Show Missing Nigerian Schoolgirls

New Boko Haram Video Claims To Show Missing Nigerian Schoolgirls

Lagos (AFP) – Boko Haram’s leader said in a new video obtained by AFP on Monday that more than 200 abducted Nigerian schoolgirls would only be released if the government freed militant fighters from custody.

Abubakar Shekau made the claim in a 27-minute video, which he claimed showed about 130 of the girls who were kidnapped from their school in the remote northeastern town of Chibok nearly a month ago.

The girls’ disappearance has triggered global outrage, in part due to a social media campaign that has won the support of high-profile figures from U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama to Pope Francis.

The militant leader said the girls shown in the video had converted to Islam and all were shown in Muslim dress, reciting the first chapter of the Koran and praying at an undisclosed location.

Boko Haram has made prisoner exchange demands before without success and Nigeria’s government again dismissed the request outright.

Asked if the government would reject Shekau’s suggestion, Interior Minister Abba Moro told AFP: “Of course.”

“The issue in question is not about Boko Haram… giving conditions,” he added.

A total of 276 girls were abducted on April 14 from Chibok, which has a sizeable Christian community. Police say 223 are still missing.

Nigeria’s government has been criticised for its lack of immediate response to the kidnapping but has been forced into action as a result of international pressure.

President Goodluck Jonathan has accepted help from the United States, Britain, France, China and Israel, which have sent specialist teams to help in the search effort.

French President Francois Hollande has also called for a west Africa security summit to discuss the Boko Haram threat, which could be held as early as Saturday.

The United States and Britain have been invited, he said.

The latest footage shows girls in black and grey full-length hijabs sitting on scrubland near trees.

Three of the girls are interviewed. Two say they were Christian and had converted while one said she was Muslim.

All three pronounce their belief in Islam dispassionately to the camera, sometimes looking down at the ground and apparently under duress.

Most of the group behind them were seated cross-legged on the ground. The girls appeared calm and one said that they had not been harmed.

There was no indication of when the video was taken, although the quality is better than on previous occasions and at one point an armed man is seen in shot with a hand-held video camera.

Shekau does not appear in the same shot. Instead, he is seen dressed in combat fatigues, carrying an automatic weapon in front of a lime-green canvas backdrop.

Boko Haram has been waging an increasingly deadly insurgency in Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north since 2009, attacking schools teaching a “Western” curriculum, churches and government targets.

Civilians, though, have borne the brunt of recent violence, with more than 1,500 killed this year alone while tens of thousands have been displaced after their homes and businesses were razed.

Speaking in his native Hausa language as well as Arabic, he restates his claim of responsibility made in a video released last Monday and said the girls had converted to Islam while others had not.

“These girls, these girls you occupy yourselves with… we have indeed liberated them. These girls have become Muslims,” he said.

“There are still others who have not converted and are holding on to your belief. There are many of them,” he added. “You are making so much noise about Chibok, Chibok, Chibok. Only Allah knows how many women we are holding, the infidels who Allah commands us to hold.”

On the prisoner release, Shekau said Boko Haram’s brothers in arms had been held in prison for up to five years and suggested that the girls would be released if the fighters were freed.

“We will never release them (the girls) until after you release our brethren,” he said.

Boko Haram has used kidnapping of women and young girls in the past and Shekau indicated that more were being held.

Eleven girls were abducted from the Gwoza area of Borno state on May 4.

President Jonathan has previously said that he believed the girls were still in Nigeria and would be freed soon.

There have been fears that the girls may have been taken into neighbouring Chad or Cameroon, from where Boko Haram is said to have launched attacks in the northeast and may have camps.

Nigeria’s army is currently concentrating its efforts on the Sambisa forest of Borno state while international assistance involves specialist surveillance and intelligence teams.

Washington said on Sunday that no U.S. troops would be used in any rescue mission while the leader of the world’s Anglicans, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, urged for negotiations to start.

But he admitted that back-channel talks would be fraught with danger because of Boko Haram’s disparate structure, its “extremely irrational” action and their “utterly merciless” history.

AFP Photo/Pius Utomi Ekpei

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