Boko Haram

You've seen the news articles about African girls being kidnapped, or a group of teens was abducted and turned into child soldiers. Many conflicts are the cause of this, as militant groups spring up to control land and resources. However, one group that is widely-known as perhaps the worst group is Boko Haram, an Islamist militant group. They bomb places, assassinate innocent people, and force onto others their variant of Islam. Their version makes it forbidden (or Haram) to be involved with anything Western.

Started in Nigeria in the early 2000's as Jama'ati Ahilis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad (People Committed to the Propogation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad), it gained foothold in the late 2000's, it controls many parts of Nigeria as well as neighboring countries. Boko Haram prevents any form of Western education, and have destroyed schools, churches, and people's homes. They have set up their own schools that preach radical teachings. Since many people under their influence are poor, they attend these schools that are free. Just recently, they beheaded six farmers in Borno, in northeast Nigeria.

They target infrastructure as well, so as to cripple the government and to seize resources for themselves. They've taken over oil fields and other industries to make themselves more self-sufficient. 

They started becoming more and more vicious, and kidnapped over 200 girls in April of 2014 with the intent of turning them into slaves. Now they claim to have their own caliphate that is independent of Nigeria. They aligned with Al-Qaeda originally and then switched over to ISIS. Just like fire ants, they are hard to eliminate. They always find ways to regroup and recruit new members, as many poor people have no better means to live and are mad at Western nations. Now I'm not supporting Boko Haram, but I can see why they would hate the West. After all, it was the European nations that ravaged them and left them with nothing but dilapidated infrastructure. Those non-profits an campaigns like UNICEF, etc. that seek to help these countries are still not adequate.

There just seems to be no end to these organizations that rock the world. If only there was a non-violent way to bring peace and end them. It was only until May of this year that 80 of the almost 300 girls kidnapped three years earlier were released. 

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/11/boko-haram-insurgents-behead-six-borno/

http://www.aljazeera.com/topics/organisations/boko-haram.html

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/09/world/boko-haram-fast-facts/index.html

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13809501