344 boys captured by Boko Haram in Nigeria have been released. NPR. The children had been abducted by Boko Haram in one of their boldest attacks in recent memory, in a part of Nigeria they were not previously active it. The boys will receive medical attention before they are returned to their families. It is unclear how Nigeria was able to secure the release of the boys but the government was under major pressure from citizens who felt that they were not doing enough to counter the Boko Haram terror group.
My Comment:
I know that I am a little late with this post but there isn't much else happening right now and it's a rare positive story. I try to write those up whenever possible, especially when it's a follow up to a story I already covered. When I wrote up the story on Tuesday I didn't think this situation would be resolved so quickly.
No doubt that this is a major victory for Nigeria and a huge relief to the families of these boys and to the boys themselves. Boko Haram is a brutal terror group and one of the most violent in the world so this outcome is much better then expected.
How did it happen though? Very unclear. None of the reporting I have seen mentions how it came to pass and I am guessing that it might remain secret for awhile. It's possible I missed it, I did happen to miss this story for a couple of days, but I kinda doubt it.
The first possibility is that someone paid a ransom for these boys. That seems very unlikely as most governments do not negotiate with terrorists that way and the last thing you want to do is reward kidnapping. I find that possibility to be unlikely at best and only mention it for the sake of completion.
Another possibility is that Nigeria was able to secure these boys via a military operation. That too seems unlikely as I doubt very seriously that none of the boys would have been injured or even killed in a firefight with Boko Haram. I guess the terrorists could have backed down right away but that doesn't seem likely either.
My guess though? Boko Haram just let them go. They made their point that they could pull off an operation this big and get a major prize. Keeping them for the unlikely chance that they could be ransomed off made little sense and though they could have killed them it would have been a lot of work and would have been bad publicity.
Most of all though I think they let them go because they could not handle that many hostages. Keeping them meant they had to feed, house and control over 300 children, no small task in the best of times, let alone when you are being hunted by the government. Letting them go was probably the right move for Boko Haram.
Though this story had a happy ending it's still important to note that Boko Haram is on the rise again. These people are hitting targets in parts of Nigeria they haven't hit before and it's a matter of time before they commit another major terror attack. Hopefully Nigeria can get their act together and finally stop these terrorists.
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