Boko Haram stepping up kidnap, use of women in attacks
International reports are coming out to throw light on the violations Boko Haram commits against Nigerian women.
Boko Haram kidnaps and
rapes women and forces them to carry out suicide attacks, Amnesty International
said.
It said the ISIS-leaning
group uses security loopholes in Nigeria and the failure of the Nigerian
government in rescuing these women.
Bring our daughters back
Boko Haram has kidnapped
over 1,000 women, most of the between 16 and 18, since 2014, according to an
investigative report by the BBC.
It said Boko Haram
especially kidnaps girls from schools specialized in technology and engineering
to use them in its attacks.
Growing kidnap operations
have fuelled a public campaign. Called "Bring our Daughters Back",
the campaign seeks to put pressure on Nigerian authorities to take action to
rescue the kidnapped girls from Boko Haram's claws.
Boko Haram is putting
women at the frontline of its operations. In June 2014, the movement used a
woman in carrying out a suicide attack for the first time. The number of
attacks launched by women is increasing in the northern part of Nigeria. Most
of the attacks are targeting markets, schools and military camps.
An American research
group said in August 2017 that Boko Haram heavily depends on women in carrying
out its attacks.
In the last three years,
the group said, the attacks launched by women were more than the ones launched
by men.
Between April and June
2017, Boko Haram used women in staging attacks against 247 targets, the group
said.
It added that the
terrorist organization used 434 in hitting these targets.
