News Boko Haram Gunmen Kidnap Girls in Nigeria

  • Thread starter Thread starter Greg Bernhardt
  • Start date Start date
Click For Summary
Approximately 240 Nigerian schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram while taking a physics exam, raising questions about Nigeria's ability to address such crises and the responsibilities of other nations. The kidnappings are seen as a symptom of deeper issues, including corruption and the rise of extremist groups that exploit perceived injustices. There is a debate over the moral obligation of countries like the U.S. to intervene, especially when other nations with similar resources seem to be absent in providing assistance. The discussion highlights a growing frustration with the international community's lack of action in crises that require military or humanitarian intervention. Ultimately, the situation underscores the need for a collective global response to combat terrorism and support affected nations.
  • #31
The people who are the most directly affected by this are of course the Nigerians.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #32
I think about one more point to be taken into account: Germany (and other western EU countries) expenditure on the eastern part of Europe. Yes, I know that's don't look so cool like US invisible bombers. However, in whole region nationalistic parties are kept in check because there is a big carrot but only for countries with moderate democratic govs. (It helps to extinguish conflict in Yugoslavia and Cyprus)

It's expensive but it builds and bigger zone of free market, democratic countries with tendency to be also allied with the US through NATO.
(It's not bragging, it's not putting soft vs. hard power, just mentioning that such project should not be overlooked, when we talk about expenditures to keep world as safe place)EDIT:
If any American think that's not minor sacrifice for such countries, would he like:
-to send army to some far 3rd world country
OR
-open border with Mexico. ;)

DevilsAvocado said:
Okay fair enough, I misinterpreted it as EU has now dismantled all their militaries so they can't even handle the smallest of engagements, and what's left is only 266 US$ Bn and 1,551,000 personnel in dysfunctional mess... :wink:
Yes, it's dysfunctional - both politically and because of lack of economies of scale in case of small national armies.
 
Last edited:
  • #34
Anyone not completely aware of what Boko Harum is

What does 'Boko Haram' mean?

The name translates to "Western education is sin" in the local Hausa language.

The militant group says its aim is to impose a stricter enforcement of Sharia law across Africa's most populous nation, which is split between a majority Muslim north and a mostly Christian south.

How long has it been around?

The group was founded 12 years ago by Mohammed Yusuf, a charismatic cleric who called for a pure Islamic state in Nigeria. Police killed him in 2009 in an incident captured on video and posted to the Internet.

The crackdown, some say, made Boko Haram more violent and defiant.

Abubakar Shekau took control of the group and escalated the attacks. It murdered and kidnapped Westerners, and started a bombing campaign that targeted churches, mosques and government buildings.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/17/world/africa/boko-haram-explainer/
 
  • Like
Likes 256bits
  • #35
Until Nigeria takes mental health more seriously, this will continue to happen.
 
  • #38
What a monstrous atrocity!
I'm very disappointed at how little this was covered in the news.
 
  • Like
Likes lisab
  • #39
Boko Haram seems to be the Daesh in Nigeria. They are apparently killing civilians, using children to carry explosive vests into crowded areas, while attempting to export their influence into Cameroon and probably Chad and Niger, and CAR.

Survivors of Nigeria attack describe killings
http://news.yahoo.com/un-condemns-surge-nigeria-killings-084021329.html

Cameroon repels cross-border Boko Haram attack on army base
http://news.yahoo.com/cameroon-repulses-boko-haram-attack-military-164257832.html
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/afric...meroon-military-base-2015112133225785766.html
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #41
Astronuc said:
So where do these BH guys hideout?!
In the jungle. I've always wondered where these jungle groups get their food if they raze the towns.

Apparently the region is fairly opposed to President Goodluck Jonathan, so he has little incentive to help. After all, the BH are kind of helping him in a way. No breaks for Africa.
 
  • #42
There's not much jungle near or around Lake Chad. It appears to be mostly desert in that region, according to Google Map.
 
  • #43
Astronuc said:
mostly desert
Just hit "gargoyle earth" and I'd call it eastern Kansas or Oklahoma or Texas. Some drier areas, but a lot of scrub and reasonable tree cover.
 
  • #44
Astronuc said:
So where do these BH guys hideout?!

They don't. For all intents and purposes, they are the government there. That's the Nigerian civil war in a nutshell.

(Oversimplified history) Nigeria has a predominantly Christian southern part and a predominantly Muslim northern part. The northern part demanded sharia law, and this is what they got. When people complained that selling their daughters into slavery was not exactly what they signed up for, Boko Haram made examples of them, their families and often the whole village. Today the populace are either supporters, or too scared to resist. If you want to see their political opponents, you need to visit their graveyards.
 
  • Like
Likes Borg and mheslep
  • #45
  • #48
I believe it was Monguno that fell not Maiduguri.
Nigeria repels suspected Boko Haram attack on Maiduguri city
(Reuters) - Nigeria's military repelled an attack by suspected Boko Haram militants on Borno state capital Maiduguri in the northeast, security sources said on Sunday, but the insurgents captured another Borno town.

The assault on Maiduguri, with a population of around two million, began just after midnight. Sources at two hospitals said at least eight people had died and 27, mostly civilians, had been injured. A raid on the town of Monguno, 140 km (80 miles) north, began later in the morning and was under militant control by the late afternoon. [...]
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/01/25/uk-nigeria-violence-maiduguri-idUKKBN0KY08B20150125
 
  • Like
Likes Greg Bernhardt
  • #49
I'm not sure "no intention" is the right phrase. "Limited ability" is perhaps closer. Remember, they have another insurgency that they have to deal with in the southern part of the country, and the history of military juntas tends to make the Nigerian government wary of having a powerful military.
 
  • Like
Likes mheslep and Greg Bernhardt
  • #50
  • #51
Nigerian military fights to recapture town from Boko Haram
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/26/us-nigeria-violence-idUSKBN0KZ1HT20150126
(Reuters) - Nigerian troops backed by air strikes were fighting on Monday to recapture the northeastern town of Monguno from Boko Haram insurgents who had seized it a day earlier, security sources said.
. . . .
Looking back last May - Special Report: The rifts behind Nigeria's mass kidnap
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/29/us-nigeria-kidnap-missteps-idUSKBN0E916320140529

Government corruption and inaction are among the many problems.
 
Last edited:
  • #52
'Huge' effort needed to fight Boko Haram: US commander
http://news.yahoo.com/huge-effort-needed-fight-boko-haram-us-commander-000118945.html
Washington (AFP) - Turning the tide against Boko Haram will require a "huge" international effort, a top US military commander warned on Tuesday, taking a swipe at Nigeria's response to the emboldened extremists.

Relations between the Nigerian and US militaries have been strained with Nigeria cancelling training by US advisers of a unit that was supposed to fight the militants, . . . .
but
Nigeria has the largest army in west Africa but has come under criticism at home and abroad for failing to stop the advance of Boko Haram.

meanwhile
Niger lifts refugee camp ban as record numbers flee Boko Haram: TRFN
http://news.yahoo.com/niger-lifts-refugee-camp-ban-record-numbers-flee-071112817.html
According to government figures, some 150,000 refugees as well as returning Niger migrants are seeking shelter amongst locals in Diffa, an impoverished region recovering from drought.
 
  • #53
3 Chad soldiers, 123 Boko Haram militants killed in Cameroon
http://news.yahoo.com/3-chad-soldiers-123-boko-haram-militants-killed-233359020.html
N'Djamena (AFP) - Three soldiers and 123 Boko Haram militants were killed when the Islamist group attacked a Chadian army contingent in northern Cameroon, the Chadian military said.

Twelve soldiers were wounded in the attacks staged by the Islamists on Thursday and Friday near the border town of Fotokol, according to a military statement read out on national television.

Chad sent a convoy of troops and military vehicles into neighbouring Cameroon on January 17 to deal with the growing threat Boko Haram poses in the region.
. . . .
The fight is getting bigger.

Meanwhile, in Borno State, Nigeria, Boko Haram Encircles City of Two Million Ahead of Elections
http://www.newsweek.com/boko-haram-prepare-assault-city-two-million-ahead-elections-303233

Africa agrees to send 7,500 troops to fight Boko Haram
http://news.yahoo.com/africa-agrees-send-7-500-troops-fight-boko-121533918.html
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Like
Likes Greg Bernhardt
  • #54
Boko Haram kills dozens in rampage after Chad offensive
http://news.yahoo.com/cameroon-troops-clash-boko-haram-border-town-081904318.html

Fotokol (Cameroon) (AFP) - Nigerian Boko Haram fighters went on the rampage in the Cameroonian border town of Fotokol Wednesday, massacring dozens of civilians and torching a mosque before being repelled by regional forces.

The onslaught came a day after Chad sent troops across the border to flush the jihadists out of the Nigerian town of Gamboru, which lies some 500 metres (yards) from Fotokol on the other side of a bridge.

Chad's army said it had killed more than 200 Boko Haram militants in the intervention -- the first by regional forces against Boko Haram on its home ground. But some of the insurgents escaped, it added.
. . . .
After several hours of clashes Cameroonian troops, backed by Chadian forces who scrambled back from Nigeria to help guard the town, managed to repel the assault.
Boko Haram, hit by 3-nation offensive, rampage in Cameroon
http://news.yahoo.com/african-union-meets-force-fight-boko-haram-110100859.html

So Chad and Cameroon will have units attacking BH. Ostensibly, Nigerian forces will be defending against, if not attacking, BH.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #55
'109 Boko Haram fighters dead' after first attack on Niger
http://news.yahoo.com/first-boko-haram-attack-niger-witnesses-000757903.html
Niamey (AFP) - Boko Haram launched its first major attack in Niger on Friday, triggering a forceful response from regional troops who claimed to have killed more than a hundred of the Islamists.

The clashes in Bosso and Diffa, along the border with Nigeria, marked yet another expansion of violence attributed to Boko Haram, but it seemed to have come at a heavy cost.
. . . .
Nigeria needs to cooperate with Chad, Cameroon and Niger to eliminate BH. Too much killing already!and they seem to be - Nigeria, neighbors to send 8,750 troops to fight Boko Haram
http://news.yahoo.com/niger-109-boko-haram-fighters-killed-attacks-091500908.html
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #57
Boko Haram takes on Chadian forces in NE Nigeria town
http://news.yahoo.com/boko-haram-attack-chad-troops-nigerian-border-town-003646840.html

N'Djamena (AFP) - Boko Haram on Wednesday launched a pre-dawn raid in Gamboru, northeastern Nigeria, looking to overwhelm Chadian troops who had pushed them out of the border town.

The military in N'Djamena said the militants were repelled but the counter-attack was an indication of the task facing regional forces aiming to crush the rebellion.

Troops from Chad, Cameroon and Niger have been deployed to fight the Islamists, whose bloody insurgency has claimed more than 13,000 lives since 2009 and now threatens Nigeria's neighbours.

Boko Haram kidnaps hundreds in Nigeria, taunts victims with stories of abducted Chibok girls
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/02/11/boko-haram-kidnaps-hundreds-in-nigeria-taunts-victims-with-stories-abducted/
YOLA, Nigeria – When Islamic extremists snatched more than 270 girls from the Chibok boarding school in Nigeria in the dead of night, protests broke out worldwide. The U.S. pledged to help find them, and the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag was born.

Some 10 months later, most are still missing. The Boko Haram extremist group sees the mass kidnapping as a shining symbol of success, and has abducted hundreds of other girls, boys and women. The militants brag to their new captives about the surrender of the Chibok girls, their conversion to Islam and their marriage to fighters.

"They told me the Chibok girls have a new life where they learn to fight," says Abigail John, 15, who was held by Boko Haram for more than four weeks before escaping. "They said we should be like them and accept Islam."
 
Last edited:
  • #58
Nigerian president calls for US help as Boko Haram invade city
http://news.yahoo.com/boko-haram-invades-restive-nigerian-city-gombe-locals-105521810.html

Kano (Nigeria) (AFP) - Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan appealed for more US help in fighting Boko Haram, as the Islamists struck again on Saturday and called for a boycott of upcoming general elections.

The head of state for the first time claimed direct links between the Sunni radicals who have been waging a six-year insurgency in Nigeria and the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.
. . . .
It seems that the US will be directly involved with BH and Daesh, whether it wants to be or not.
 
  • #59
Boko Haram: 200,000 Christians at Risk of Massacre in Nigeria
http://chicago.suntimes.com/nationworld/7/71/369081/boko-haram-200000-christians-at-risk-of-massacre-in-nigeria

Boko Haram forces appear poised to attack Maiduguri, a city of 2 million in northeast Nigeria — meaning that 200,000 Christians could be at risk of slaughter by the Islamist terror group, say U.S. intelligence officials and experts on Nigeria. “An attack on Madiguri is very likely,” said J. Peter Pham, director of the Africa Project at the Atlantic Council, echoing U.S. intelligence officials.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #60
Astronuc said:
Nigerian president calls for US help as Boko Haram invade city
http://news.yahoo.com/boko-haram-invades-restive-nigerian-city-gombe-locals-105521810.html
[PLAIN]http://news.yahoo.com/boko-haram-invades-restive-nigerian-city-gombe-locals-105521810.html[/PLAIN]
So he did. Why did President Gooluck not call on European governments instead, in particular the former colonial owners of Nigeria, Britain? Or middle eastern Arab governments? Or the UN?

Astronuc said:
It seems that the US will be directly involved with BH and Daesh, whether it wants to be or not.
I think the US retains a choice in the matter, in both cases.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Similar threads

News Renaissance and reaction to Islam.
  • · Replies 49 ·
2
Replies
49
Views
7K
News Bush Honest & Trustworthy Until How Many Lies?
  • · Replies 65 ·
3
Replies
65
Views
11K