Hundreds of girls taken in Nigeria

Ultra-radical jihadist group blamed for abductions; calls for the girls' rescue spread across globe.

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Boko Haram - an extremist Muslim terrorist group based in Nigeria - abducted at least 276 students from an all-girls school last week, with 53 escaping; a state of emergency was declared as protests directed at Authority in the African nation went global over the weekend, due to perceived lack of action to rescue the young girls.

A desire for sexual supremacy accompanies [Boko Haram's] loathing of knowledge. They take... schoolgirls as slaves and force them to convert to their version of Islam. They either rape them or sell them on for £10 or so to new masters. The girls are the victims of slavery, child abuse and forced marriage.
- Nick Cohen, in the Guardian UK

Fear is growing that the remaining 223 girls may never be recovered, as Boko Haram (which translates into "Western education is forbidden" and stands against educating females in any manner) has a short yet brutal history in Nigeria, including the murder of 59 school boys less than three months ago; Nigerians are livid over this latest action, protesting both in the streets and on social media, where the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls was trending on Twitter.

The 276 Nigerian girls have names, hopes and dreams just like the rest of us. We must #BringBackOurGirls
— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) May 5, 2014

In the five years Nigerian Authority has been fighting this group there have been over a dozen attacks, and this latest tragedy suggests they are either losing the battle or (if protesters are to be believed) they are not making enough of an effort; Boko Haram's stated goal is to overthrow the democratically-elected government and install a Muslim state, centered around a strict, literalist interpretation of Sharia law.

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