Boko Haram’s Abducted Girls

Fifteen year old, Mummy Ibrahim, was forced to flee her home in Maiduguri, Nigeria after her neighbor pledged his allegiance to Boko Haram and claimed he was going to forcefully take Mummy as his bride. Mummy fled to Yola, Nigeria where the United Nations had set up a refugee camp for women and children that were forced to flee from the terrorist organization. Today, the Yola refugee camp hosts up to 1.5 million displaced women and children.

Ms. Power, United States ambassador to the United Nations, visited Yola and met with eight of the “Chibok girls” who has escaped from Boko Haram after the April 2014 kidnapping. In 2014, Boko Haram militants abducted 276 girls from their elementary school and while 57 later escaped; the remaining 219 girls have not been found. On December 15^th, 2015, CNN received a “Proof of Life” video of 15 “Chibok Girls”. This video was the first sign of hope for parents that some of the abducted girls may still be alive years after their kidnapping.

For the girls that have managed to escape from Boko Haram’s control, returning home does not always offer the warm welcome that one would expect. As African governments make military advancements against the Islamic extremist group and rescue some of the enslaved girls, the abducted girls of Boko Haram now face the challenge of rehabilitation. Once they return to home, the girls are often stigmatized and ostracized by their communities. The communities fear that these “Boko Haram wives” transformed into violent, radical terrorists during their stay with the terrorist organization. Many communities believe that the schoolgirls were kidnapped by Boko Haram in order to kill for them and therefore suspect escaped Boko Haram girls to be suicide bombers. Because of this, the most vulnerable population of abducted schoolgirls are now also becoming the most feared. The victims of the kidnapping are being viewed as suspicious by their home communities and it is imperative that this narrative changes in order to provide the kidnapped girls the protection that they so desperately need.

Sources:

• http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/13/africa/chibok-girls-new-proof-of-life-video/
• http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/29/schoolgirls-kidnapped-boko-haram-brainwashed-fight-group
• http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/23/world/africa/boko-haram-nigeria-samantha-power.html?ref=world&_r=0
• http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/returning-home-mixed-blessing-victims-boko-haram-38616458
• http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/12/africa/cameroon-boko-haram-child-bombers/

 

Rhino Poachers Shot in South Africa

In the last week, there has been increased news coverage about rhino poaching, particularly in South Africa. The fact that rhinos are on the endangered species list is not news. Rhinos have been poached for their horns for decades. The news this week, however, is the death of poachers hunting for rhino horns in South Africa and Zimbabwe. With the number of rhinos killed increasing from in the double digits to over a thousand in the last decade, South African police and rangers are using drastic measures to protect the wild life and stem the illicit trade of Rhino horns, believed to cure cancer by many Asian cultures according to the BBC. In fact, according to traffic.org, the USAID Traffic Report, over 18,000 white rhinos and 1,700 black rhinos were killed by poachers last year in South Africa alone.

According to many accounts, the rhinos are left to one of two fates. They are either killed, their horns cut off, and their bodies left as worthless. The other animals, less lucky, are shot or tranquilized. While the animal is unconscious or impaired, the poachers cut off the horn for their profit and leave the animal, still alive. Most rhinos have become critically endangered, with wild populations only left in parts of Africa, especially South Africa.

While scientists look into ways of helping the rhinos who survive these attacks recover, there is still the issue of how the state deals with the poachers they catch. In the last week, rangers have leaned toward the extreme, shooting and killing suspected poachers before they could commit the crime, in action, or post crime. According to News24, these shootings are not unprovoked but in response to poachers first firing at the rangers in Zimbabwe. The rangers stated that the country is “stepping up” their protection of large game as attacks on the animals are continuing to increase.

While the illicit trade of ivory and rhino horns is not a new story, the increased poaching is creating new problems for the governments in African countries such as Zimbabwe and South Africa. Now a new question has been raised. How far must the police and rangers go in order to protect these animals? Will poachers continue to hunt these rare and endangered species if they know their own lives are at risk? The South African rangers (like those pictured above) will continue to fight in what they consider the “war against poachers” (CBC world news)

Sources:

Evans, Margaret. “South Africa Faces Uphill Battle against Rhino Poaching.” CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, 2 Apr. 2015. Web. 8 Apr. 2015. <http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/south-africa-faces-uphill-battle-against-rhino-poaching-1.3018216&gt;.

Hosea, Leana. “Poaching the Creature That’s More Valuable than Gold.” BBC News. 4 Apr. 2015. Web. 8 Apr. 2015. <http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32151983&gt;.

Milliken, Tim. “ILLEGAL TRADE IN IVORY AND RHINO HORN: AN ASSESSMENT TO IMPROVE LAW ENFORCEMENT UNDER THE WILDLIFE TRAPS PROJECT.” Traffic.org. 1 Dec. 2012. Web. 8 Apr. 2015. <http://www.traffic.org/storage/W-TRAPS-Elephant-Rhino-report.pdf&gt;.

“Zim Rangers Shoot Dead Suspected Poachers Report.” News24. 2 Apr. 2015. Web. 8 Apr. 2015. <http://www.news24.com/Africa/Zimbabwe/Zim-rangers-shoot-dead-suspected-poachers-report-20150402-3&gt;.

Vigilantes Defeat Boko Haram in Its Nigerian Base

BENISHEIK, Nigeria — The men from Boko Haram came tearing through this rural town, setting fire to houses, looting, shooting and yelling, “God is great!” residents and officials said. The gunmen shot motorists point-blank on the road, dragged young men out of homes for execution and ordered citizens to lie down for a fatal bullet.

When it was all over 12 hours later, they said, about 150 people were dead, and even one month later, this once-thriving town of 35,000 is a burned out, empty shell of blackened houses and charred vehicles.

Boko Haram, Nigeria’s homegrown Islamist insurgent movement, remains a deadly threat in the countryside, a militant group eager to prove its jihadi bona fides and increasingly populated by fighters from Mali, Mauritania and Algeria, said the governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/21/world/africa/vigilantes-defeat-boko-haram-in-its-nigerian-base.html?hp&_r=0

U.S. forces strike in Libya, Somalia, capture al Qaeda operative

(CNN) — (CNN) — In two operations in Africa nearly 3,000 miles apart, U.S. military forces went after two high-value targets over the weekend.

One operation took place early Saturday in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, when members of the elite U.S. Army Delta Force captured Abu Anas al Libi, an al Qaeda operative wanted for his alleged role in the deadly 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.

In the second raid, a team of U.S. Navy SEALs in southern Somalia targeted a foreign fighter commander for Al-Shabaab, a terrorist group linked with al Qaeda, according to a senior Obama administration official.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/06/world/africa/us-forces-africa-terrorist-raids/index.html

U.S. defends capture of al-Libi in Libya—CBS

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday defended the capture of a terrorism suspect by American Special Forces in Libya, saying complaints about the operation from Libya and others are unfounded. Kerry said the weekend seizure in Tripoli of suspected al Qaeda operative Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai — known by his alias, Abu Anas al-Libi — complied with U.S. law. He said the suspect was a “legal and appropriate target” for the U.S. military and will face justice in a court of law. Kerry added it was important not to “sympathize” with wanted terrorists. CBS News correspondent David Martin reports al-Libi is being held on a Navy ship in the Mediterranean Sea where he will be interrogated about his many years as a leading member of al Qaeda, before being sent to New York for criminal prosecution. Read more here.

94 Dead, Hundreds Missing from Smuggling Boat—NYT

Having floated for at least two days in the choppy Mediterranean to reach Europe, a rickety trawler overstuffed with African migrants fleeing war and poverty was nearing a Sicilian island, not even a quarter-mile away… Nearly 500 people are estimated to have been on board — including children and babies — and the blaze created a panic that capsized the boat… Pregnant women and children were among the drowned. The accident, which occurred before dawn on Thursday within easy eyesight of the island of Lampedusa, is one of the worst in recent memory in the Mediterranean: at least 94 people were reported dead, with 250 still missing. Late Thursday afternoon, officials said more bodies had just been discovered in the sunken ship. At least 150 others survived, and Italy’s Coast Guard was continuing to search

Dozens Killed in Terror Attack on Nairobi Mall—NYT

Masked gunmen stormed into a crowded mall in Nairobi Saturday and shot dead at least 39 people and wounded more than 150 in one of the most chilling terrorist attacks in East Africa since Al Qaeda blew up 2 U.S. embassies in 1998. Parents hurled their bodies over their children, people jumped into ventilation shafts to save themselves, and shoppers huddled behind the mannequins of designer clothing stores as 2 squads of gunmen believed to be linked to a Somali terrorist group moved through the mall, shooting shoppers in the head. Hours later, the mall’s gleaming floors were smeared with blood as police dashed through the corpse-strewn corridors, trying to find the assailants. A standoff with the attackers, who were reported to be heavily armed and holding an unknown number of hostages, continued as the sun rose on Sunday. Read more here.