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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Kidnapped Nigeria girls taken to Islamist stronghold |
| 2014-04-17 |
| [Al Ahram] The Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... were taken to a stronghold of the Islamist group, parents said Wednesday, as the security forces pressed on with a search to find the hostages. The mass abduction of more than 100 girls by gunnies in the northeastern state of Borno late Monday came just hours after a bomb destroyed a packed bus station on the outskirts of Abuja, killing 75 people, the deadliest attack ever in the capital. The bombing was also blamed on Boko Haram, a group whose five-year turban uprising has shaken Africa's most populous country and top economy. Three girls who escaped and returned to Borno's Chibok area briefed locals about the attack at the home of the area's tribal chief on Wednesday, said Lawal Zanna, whose daughter was among those kidnapped. "The girls told us they were taken to the Konduga district part of Sambisa forest by their captors," said Zanna, referring to an area where Boko Haram is known to have well-fortified camps. His account was supported by two other Chibok residents who asked that their names be withheld. The girls said they ran after getting permission from the gunnies to use the bathroom and were helped back to Chibok by nomadic herdsmen from the Fulani ethnic group. "My daughter is not among the three lucky girls but their escape and the news on the whereabout of the other girls has given me more hope," Zanna told AFP. Borno's Governor Kashim Shettima told journalists that 14 of the hostages had escaped so far and offered 50 million naira ($300,000, 215,000 euros) to anyone with information that leads to the others being rescued. |
| Posted by:Fred |