The literal meaning of Boko Haram is ‘Western education is a sin’. Boko Haram is a militant Islamist group, operating in Nigeria. It rejects Western culture and secular education and calls for Islamic rule. In April 2004, Boko Haram abducted 276 Chibok girls from a school, of which around 100 were freed after negotiations, some managed to escape, while 112 of them remain hostage to this day.
"I don't see anything changing ... we keep demanding accountability and we're not seeing it. Schools cannot be safe when you allow insurgents, when you allow terrorists to keep shifting the goalposts," Manasseh, the media and publicity head of the Chibok community stated in an interview.
Over the years, more than 1000 children have been abducted by Boko Haram in Nigeria. Of the girls who managed to escape, most are forced to live in camps as they are no longer accepted by their families and are referred to as “Boko Haram women”. Some of these women also have children with men of Boko Haram, another reason why their families refuse to accept them back. The women in these camps live in poor economic conditions, where they struggle to make ends meet.
Regarding their acceptance back in society, Fatima, a woman who escaped Boko Haram and currently lives in a camp said,
"If we were welcomes back with open arms, and if they showed us they understood our pain, then one day we could leave this all in the past."
The silver lining for most of these women is that their children are gaining education in schools that are situated in these camps. They see education as an act of revenge against Boko Haram. They place emphasis on education as they fear that not educating their children makes them an easy target for recruitment into Boko Haram.
This was a very interesting read, thank you for shedding light on to it. This group is not only curtailing the process of education directly, but also indirectly by a reduction in household incomes too.
I have a few questions. Is this gender-blind? Since the abductions of school girls seems to suggest otherwise. If otherwise, where is this stemming from?
Is Boko Haram a declared FTO? If yes, then what is preventing the Nigerian government to counter it? Furthermore, does it have ties to Al-Qaeda or any other international jihadist group (since some of its dealings are very similar to those of the Taliban).
A very interesting read Muryum! I couldn't help but notice the similarities between Boko Haram and the Taliban in Afghanistan as the main reason they claim to ban girls' education is due to the western style of education/curriculum and the absence of male/female segregation in schools. They claim to only let girls go to school once these 'issues' are resolved. But what deeply disturbs me is how in both these cases, it is only the female population that has to bear the brunt of these demands. Only the female population who is abducted or forced to stay at home while the boys continue about their lives even though if looked at from their perspective, the religious responsibility falls equally o…
Very interesting blog! Thankyou for highlighting this topic. I was not aware of this before but I believe that the Boko Haram group is mainly against all the Western practices, education etc. And for this reason, they have considered getting an education is Western culture too. Moreover, there must also be policies and regulations about the curriculum and the education that is being given in this area. Because it is very likely that haterd against Westerners is being instilled in the students. Lastly, the point where they are still getting education as a fight against Boko Haram is very interesting. This example also coincides with the example of pre-partion India where some of the Muslims boycotted education but Sir Syed…
Why is it that the Boko Haram group is so adamantly against the concept of western education? Why is it that they use religion as a claim to negate literacy? Moreover, what guarantee is there that the reestablishment of educational facilities within these escapee camps will not be subject to future Boko Haram violence? Is there no means of safeguards or attempts of protection on society's behalf? Is there a resigned communal acceptance of this lifestyle?