NIGERIA
#BringBackOurBoys
Boko Haram claimed Tuesday that it was responsible for the abduction of more than 300 boys from a secondary school in northwestern Nigeria over the weekend, sparking fears that the group is expanding its operations in other parts of the country, Al Jazeera reported.
Attackers on motorbikes stormed a boarding school in Katsina state, prompting hundreds of children to flee. Nigerian officials said that many boys have reappeared after hiding in the woods but the search is on for hundreds more, the Washington Post reported.
The attack was initially blamed on local bandits: Katsina state has been plagued by bandits abducting people for ransom.
The Islamist militant group mostly operates hundreds of miles away in the northeast of the country and is thought to have a minor presence in the northwest.
The recent abduction has raised concerns that the group is making inroads in other territories, especially after fighters claiming to be in the northwest released a 2020 propaganda video pledging allegiance to Boko Haram’s leader.
Boko Haram believes “Western-style” education goes against Islamic teachings.
In 2014, the militants provoked international outrage when they abducted almost 300 girls in the town of Chibok, prompting a global awareness campaign with the viral hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.
More than 100 of those girls remain missing.
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