Is it just me… or … what am I missing here? Would someone please help me understand what might possibly possess someone to abduct 2000 school girls?
http://www.voanews.com/content/nigeria-abductions-14apr15/2718232.html
Please: Help me grasp why this is happening. Please.
Terrorist groups achieve their aims by the widespread use of… terror. So there doesn’t actually have to be any greater rationale than that for abducting school girls, killing Christians or stoning sharia breaking Muslims. Frighten the world into submission…
But in this instance, the choice of school girls is deliberate. Boko Haram’s name means “Western education is forbidden” (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-27390954 for the background to the term). Resentment at the British colonial imposition of Western education in what had been the Sokoto caliphate up to the beginning of the 20th century is long-standing. By targeting school girls Boko Haram are true to their name in attempting to destroy Western education, particularly for female students.
Finally, there is also the ensuing motivation of brides for Boko fighters, the financial gain of those sold as slaves on the international human trafficking market and the prestige and media coverage associated with these relatively easy “soft target” actions.
Makes a whole lot of sense…
Neil, thank you for the clear response. This is a sad reality, but they are both being true to their mission and to the tenants of Islam.