(AFP) \u2013 US and British experts have arrived in Nigeria to help in the hunt
\nfor more than 200 schoolgirls whose abduction last month by Islamists
\nprompted universal outrage.<\/p>\n
The US embassy in Abuja told AFP Friday that a team of American experts
\nhad arrived in Nigeria, without specifying the make up of the group.<\/p>\n
US officials have previously said Washington would send military personnel
\nas well as specialists from the Justice Department and the FBI to help
\nsearch for the girls kidnapped by the Boko Haram group on April 14 in the
\nnortheastern town of Chibok.<\/p>\n
British specialists, including defence ministry personnel, also landed in
\nNigeria\u2019s capital on Friday, the foreign office said.<\/p>\n
France and China have also offered satellite imaging equipment to help
\nfind the girls whose kidnapping has drawn condemnation worldwide and
\nraised awareness about an Islamist uprising that has killed thousands
\nsince 2009.<\/p>\n
Nigeria had initially been slow to respond to the kidnappings and the
\nmilitary\u2019s search and rescue effort has been fiercely criticised by
\nactivists and parents of the hostages.<\/p>\n
But a series of protests in the capital, a growing social media campaign,
\nand attention from world leaders and celebrities has put pressure on
\nNigeria to act more aggressively.<\/p>\n
Nigeria has in the past resisted security cooperation with the West,
\nexperts said, but amid outrage over the plight of the hostages, President
\nGoodluck Jonathan\u2019s administration this week welcomed offers of help from
\nworld powers.<\/p>\n
– Unprecedented brutality –<\/p>\n
The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) on Friday said that aside from
\nthe kidnappings which have captured global attention, focus needed to
\nremain on Boko Haram\u2019s wider insurgency.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe brutality and frequency of (the group\u2019s) attacks is unprecedented,\u201d
\nUNHCR said in a statement.
\nMost of the group\u2019s recent violence has been concentrated in the remote
\nnortheast, where Boko Haram was founded more than a decade ago, and where
\nmore than 1,600 people have already been killed this year.<\/p>\n
Attacks in Borno state have at times seemed a weekly occurence this year,
\nwith defenceless civilians the most frequent victims.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome have witnessed friends or family members being randomly singled out
\nand killed in the streets,\u201d UNHCR said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople speak of homes and fields being burned to the ground, with
\nvillages completely razed, or grenades being launched into crowded markets
\nkilling people and livestock,\u201d the statement added.
\nBoko Haram has said it is fighting to create a strict Islamic state in
\nNigeria\u2019s mainly Muslim north.
\nSome in the deeply conservative northeast have voiced support for a
\nsociety governed by sharia, or Islamic law.<\/p>\n
But experts say that any public support Boko Haram may have once had in
\nthe region has been largely destroyed by its ruthless campaign against
\ncivilians.<\/p>\n
The most recent massacre by the group killed hundreds in the northeastern
\ntown of Gamboru Ngala, on the Cameroon border.<\/p>\n
Islamist gunmen razed much of the town and fired indiscriminately on
\ncivilians as they tried to flee, burning entire families in their homes.<\/p>\n
– A turning point? –<\/p>\n
Addressing a World Economic Forum summit in Abuja on Thursday, Jonathan
\nsaid the Chibok kidnappings would mark a turning point in the battle
\nagainst the Islamists, calling it \u201cthe beginning of the end of terrorism
\nin Nigeria.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nigeria\u2019s failure to contain the violence has raised questions as to
\nwhether the country can eliminate Boko Haram without outside help.<\/p>\n
Nigeria is Africa\u2019s most populous country and top economy, with by far the
\nlargest defence budget in west Africa, but its military has been widely
\naccused of committing serious rights abuses, while its competence has been
\ncriticised.<\/p>\n
Some have voiced hope that collaborating on the hostage rescue may improve
\nNigeria\u2019s broader capacity to defeat Boko Haram.<\/p>\n
Britain\u2019s foreign office said that aside from working to rescue the
\nhostages, its team, \u201cworking closely with their US counterparts,\u201d would
\nalso be focused on \u201clonger-term counter-terrorism solutions to prevent
\nsuch attacks in the future and defeat Boko Haram.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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