Boko Haram Strikes Again

To add insult to injury...

The abduction of more than 200 girls from the northeast Nigerian town of Chibok has understandably taken an immense toll on the community, and particularly the families, involved. However, the Associated Press has a report that shows the impact on the families of the girls has been particularly severe. Startlingly, 11 parents of the schoolgirls have died in the three months since their abduction. Chibok has been cut off from government control by Boko Haram, which has staged repeated attacks that show no sign of abating.

Seven fathers of kidnapped girls were among 51 bodies brought to the Chibok hospital after an attack on the nearby village of Kautakari this month, said a health worker who insisted on anonymity for fear of reprisals by the extremists. At least four more parents have died of heart failure, high blood pressure and other illnesses that the community blames on trauma due to the mass abduction 100 days ago, said community leader Pogu Bitrus, who provided their names. "One father of two of the girls kidnapped just went into a kind of coma and kept repeating the names of his daughters, until life left him," said Bitrus.​

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan met with the parents of the kidnapped schoolgirls and some of girls that managed to escape on Tuesday. Jonathan, and the Nigerian government, have faced intense criticism for their handling of the mass abduction. “Mr. Jonathan said the government wanted to avoid a rescue effort that could lead to the girls being killed,” the BBC reports. “The US, UK, France, China and Israel have been helping in operations to secure the release of the girls, who are believed to be held in the Sambisa forest, near Nigeria's border with Cameroon.”

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It is not the responsibility of other nations to come in and solve Nigeria's problems for them. However, by any standard, the "response" of the unfortunately named President Goodluck Jonathan has been feckless and impotent.

If I were a citizen of Nigeria the sense that in the fight against Boko Haram, I was entirely on my own would be growing daily within me.

nighttimer said:

To add insult to injury...



It is not the responsibility of other nations to come in and solve Nigeria's problems for them. However, by any standard, the "response" of the unfortunately named President Goodluck Jonathan has been feckless and impotent.

If I were a citizen of Nigeria the sense that in the fight against Boko Haram, I was entirely on my own would be growing daily within me.

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Pretty much.

My husband, a training and development consultant (now retired), had the misfortune of having to visit Nigeria on several occasions. His experiences and observations of the country are the stuff of nightmares. I think it's difficult for us, as 'Westerners', to fully comprehend the degree of primal savagery that exists there. Groups like Boko Haram are everywhere. They control their territories (and their illegal pipeline siphoning) with a horrific violence you will never see in a movie. Many of them are high on drugs, armed to the teeth and completely unpredictable.

During his stay in Lagos, and while traveling around the country, my hubby had an escort of heavily armed security people provided for him by the U.S. oil company he was consulting to. Twice they were stopped by a 'militia-styled' gang. My hubby is not a man who scares easily but he says, when your security contingent suddenly breaks into a sweat, you know you're in big trouble. They told him to sit quietly, put his head down and not make eye-contact. The 'thugs' (for want of a better word) prodded him with the business end of an AK47 and demanded to see his passport. When they saw he was South African they let him go, after extorting a large amount of US$. If he'd been a U.S. citizen, the security people told him, they would probably have shot all of them and taken him prisoner, to ransom him back to Texaco.

Given this kind of horror, which happens on a daily basis in that country, it is perhaps easy to understand why finding those girls, and even assisting in a search, is fraught with the most unimaginable danger. I shudder to think how much CNN must have 'paid' to safeguard their correspondents who went into those areas (not that any payment there is a guarantee of anything). IMHO, nothing short of a full-scale military invasion is likely to succeed and even then, it would result in some awful casualties. I really fear for those girls and all the honest, decent citizens of that country who just want to live their lives in peace.

If you're interested in what life is really like in Nigeria I recommend Eclipse, by Richard North Patterson. It's a novel, set in a fictitious African state that is a not-so-thinly disguised Nigeria. My hubby says that Patterson's descriptions are so accurate they gave him the chills. I'm pretty sure they would chill you, too.

regdog said:

How many Western World leaders talk about being "Humanitarian" in their leadership. Wouldn't saving innocent young women from kidnap, rape, torture and abuse count as humanitarian.

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I agree, regdog, but the fear of Western World "colonialism" doubtlessly dampens efforts to assist the Nigerian government with anything more than tactical support.

National pride, ego and insecurity all too frequently trumps humanitarian concerns. More's the pity.

One would think there was the will within the Nigerian government to take the lead here instead of basically doing nothing. Apparently, one would think incorrectly.

Which is too bad for those girls and their families.

At last, some good news on the front hopefully - it appears the Nigerian government has finally worked out a deal with the rebels and more then 200 girls held by Boko Haram are being released and will be coming home

The agreement, announced by the country's defense minister, also involves a cease fire between Boko Haram and Nigeria's military. The government expects the terror group will not back out on the deal. "Commitment among parts of Boko Haram and the military does appear to be genuine," an official with Nigeria's security forces told Reuters Friday. "It is worth taking seriously."

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Fingers crossed that this is real and that the girls are indeed brought back quickly and given the help they need to recover.

I would love to see all of the girls released. Any reports on what Boko Haram would be getting in return? I would imagine it's some kind of prisoner swap, if I had to guess.

Maybe a deal hasn't been reached yet, after all…

Claims by a Nigerian official that a cease-fire with the Boko Haram terrorist group has been reached were met with widespread skepticism Friday in Washington -- and even in Nigeria -- with experts in both countries saying it was likely either a case of wishful thinking or a political ploy by supporters of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan.

Nigeria's Defense Chief of Staff Alex Badeh announced earlier Friday that a truce had been reached and claimed that 200-plus girls seized from a government school six months ago would soon be freed.

But that was quickly followed by a statement from the government's own propaganda arm stating that while the two sides have engaged in talks, they have not reached an agreement to halt hostilities.

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Link.

Sadly, it wouldn't surprise me if Goodluck was taking credt for something he hadnt actually accomplished. Still, I hope the fact they're talking is progress.

Yeah, this story seems pretty suspicious to me. According to this article, false claims of a cease-fire deal have been made in the past.

Also, I'm pretty sure the Nigerian army has claimed to have killed Shekau a number of times, even though the actual number of times they've killed him is still zero, apparently. So it seems like there's a pretty clear trail of misinformation coming out of Nigeria when it comes to Boko Haram.

Michael Wolfe said:

Also, I'm pretty sure the Nigerian army has claimed to have killed Shekau a number of times, even though the actual number of times they've killed him is still zero, apparently.

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Hell, they aren't even sure Shekau is a single individual. There are indications that the name is a pseudonym, and that two or more individuals have appeared on videos claiming the name. It's like a hydra. Perhaps we should all hope the Ebola epidemic strikes Boko Haram.

caw

I keep reading Boko Haram as Procol Harem, and keep hoping for a reunion tour or something...my bad.

But, in seriousness, people really do suck.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/01/world/africa/nigeria-boko-haram-denies-deal/

Boko Haram laughed off Nigeria's announcement of a ceasefire agreement, saying there is no such deal and the abducted schoolgirls have been converted to Islam and married off...

In a video released Saturday, the Islamist group's notorious leader fired off a series of denials.

"Don't you know the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls have converted to Islam?" Abubakar Shekau said. "They have now memorized two chapters of the Koran."

"We married them off. They are in their marital homes," he said, chuckling.

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Chilling bastards.