Six Years After Chibok Kidnappings, Boko Haram Uses Coronavirus for Resurgence – By Gabrielle Reyes (Breitbart) / April 14 2020
Six years after Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from a government secondary school in northeastern Nigeria, the Jihadist terror group is taking advantage of the ongoing Chinese coronavirus pandemic to launch a comeback.
Assaults in recent weeks demonstrate Boko Haram’s expanding jihadist campaign in the area, part of the vast Lake Chad region. Recently, the terrorist group has stepped up its attacks in the communities bordering the Sambisa Forest, Boko Haram’s historic hideout, and the area in which the Chibok schoolgirls were kidnapped on April 14, 2014. The attacks have occurred as much of Nigeria locks down to prevent the spread of the Chinese coronavirus.
Boko Haram attacked Chibok village’s girls’ secondary school six years ago on Tuesday. Of those kidnapped, 112 remain missing.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s spokesman issued a statement on Monday night to acknowledge the sixth anniversary of the kidnapping. In the statement, Buhari claimed that the current coronavirus pandemic and continuing “restrictions on movement” made it impossible for any government delegation to be with the families of the 112 Chibok girls still missing as they hold prayers and services to commemorate the event. In the statement, the president described “ongoing efforts” to find the women:
Unfortunately, an ongoing crisis within the Boko Haram leadership, which has led to factions and breakaway groups, brought a number of unforeseen challenges to the process of negotiating with the militants for the young women’s release. In the past few years, our armed forces have recorded huge successes in the battle against Boko Haram, but they have also been careful to ensure that as few civilian lives as possible were lost in the process. We would rather the young women still in captivity were freed alive.
President Buhari also commented on the progress being made by the freed Chibok girls his administration sent to study at the American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola.
Boko Haram, which loosely translates to “Western education is forbidden,” pledged to kill the girls if they returned to school. Almost three years ago, the government arranged for more than a hundred survivors to study at a strictly controlled campus in northeastern Nigeria, where they are watched over by a “support team” 24/7 and also by security guards, who follow them whenever they leave. The government says the protection is necessary, but some, including human rights activists, believe the supervision is excessive.
Continue to article: https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2020/04/14/six-years-after-chibok-kidnappings-boko-haram-coronavirus-resurgence/
