• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Nigeria Wants Help to Find Girls, Contain Boko Haram

by Heather Murdock May 13, 2014

As protesters gear up to mark a full month since hundreds of girls were kidnapped by Islamist militants, Nigerian officials are calling on the international community to not only help find the girls, but develop a long-term plan to 'contain' the insurgency.

Wednesday will mark a full month since the girls were kidnapped.

Protesters marched on the house of Kashim Shettima, the governor of Borno State, Tuesday where militants known as Boko Haram kidnapped more than 300 schoolgirls. The world has stood up, with the U.S., Britain, France, China, Canada and Israel offering to help find the girls.

But activists say it is not enough.

"There's no point for people to be sitting down and creating committees and meetings and things like that. It is easy,' complained human rights lawyer Sa'ida Sa'ad. 'The commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Nigeria can just issue out a statement. Tell somebody, command somebody somewhere to go into that forest, whatever that place is and get these girls out."

U.S. officials say they are committed to helping Nigeria find the girls and in the larger fight against Boko Haram militants that have been blamed for thousands of deaths in the past five years.

"The scourge of Boko Haram has continued to spread to neighboring regions and it has become an issue that really has been highlighted in this recent incident as deserving international attention," U.S. Undersecretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy & Human Rights Sarah Sewal said during a visit to Abuja, Tuesday.

Some Nigerian officials say the kind of help it has gotten in the past from the international community has not always been helpful.

However, Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs Aminu Wali says the world's help could be useful right now, if it not only extends to the missing girls, but to the larger fight against Boko Haram.

"The sudden influx is more like a fire brigade situation where there's a particular incident where the whole world wants to see it taken care of,' Aminu said. 'Ah, okay we'll take care of that and maybe the world will go back again and say business as usual. It is not. I want to appeal to the international community, it is not.

He says the international community should be working on a long-term plan to contain Boko Haram.

Activists say they do not care what the world does next, they want the girls found before any other decisions are made.

Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan asked lawmakers to extend the state of emergency in northeast Nigeria. After four years of insurgency, emergency rule was declared in three northeastern states on this day in 2013.