May 6th:
Kidnapped Nigerian Girls Forced to Marry Boko Haram Rebels, by Ruth Kramer, Mission Network News
"Three weeks ago, police say 276 schoolgirls were abducted from their dormitories in Chibole, Nigeria by the Muslim extremist group, Boko Haram. Although a handful managed to escape, the fate of the rest has been a mystery
"A spokesman with the Voice of the Martyrs USA Todd Nettleton says, “There are reports that they have been taken across the border into Cameroon. Boko Haram makes that border crossing and sometimes seeks refuge across the border in Cameroon.” What’s worse, “These girls are being offered as brides for a small bride price: the equivalent of about $12 in American money.”
"With each day passing, frustration is growing, Nettleton adds. “It doesn’t seem like the Nigerian government has been effective in trying to get these girls back for their families.” The problem, explains Nettleton, is: “The Nigerian government has not found an effective response to Boko Haram. They have not proved to be effective in controlling them, shutting them down. It’s actually a year, this month that the Nigerian government declared a state of emergency in three of the northeastern states of Nigeria.”
"By declaring the state of emergency, the Nigerian government could utilize military force in addressing the insurgency. Now it seems their tactics have backfired.
"Between January and April of this year, Boko Haram has claimed credit for more than 1,500 deaths, compared to approximately 3,600 fatalities from 2010 to 2013. Roughly 750,000 people have fled the violence, many of them agricultural workers, adding to the country’s woes...'
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May 5th:
Boko Haram Threatens Threatens To Sell 165 Kidnapped Christian Girls to Traffickers, by Kate Tracy, Christianity Today
International outcry over last month's kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls during final exams has grown large enough to make terrorist group Boko Haram a trending topic on Twitter. But even as efforts like "#BringBackOurGirls" gain steam, few of the students have been found.
The kidnappings occurred April 14, when the girls were taken from the predominantly Christian town of Chibok in the predominantly Muslim state of Borno. An estimated 50 of the teenage girls have since escaped. Now, media reports indicate that Boko Haram, which has killed an estimated 1,500 people so far this year, has taken the girls into the neighboring countries of Chad and Cameroon where they risk forced marriages and human trafficking.
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May 3rd:
220 Schoolgirls Haven't Been 'Abducted' By Boko Haram, They Have Been Enslaved, by Nick Cohen, The Guardian
"On the few occasions western leftists feel they have to justify themselves, they say they must dedicate their energies to challenging what they can change. They cannot influence the Taliban or Boko Haram, but can lobby their own governments. Even if you take these explanations at face value – and I don't – they have a Tory feel to them. Until recently, it was conservatives, not leftists, who said that "charity begins at home" and quarrels in faraway countries were no concern of ours.
"Peter Singer, a great radical philosopher, made the old distinction clear with a thought experiment. Imagine you are passing a shallow pond and see a child going under. You know that if you save the child you will ruin your clothes. Should you wade in? Of course you should, everyone replies: "It would be obscene to put your desire to save spending £50 on a new outfit before the life of a child."
"Why then, asks Singer, do you not give money you can afford to spare to save the life a child in Africa?
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