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Boko Haram鈥攁 Hausa phrase meaning 鈥淲estern education is a sin鈥濃€攊s an Islamic terrorist group whose stated aim is the establishment, by force, of a strict, sharia-law theocracy in Nigeria. Christians and students, both Muslim and Christian alike, have been among Boko Haram鈥檚 principal civilian targets. In April, Boko Haram abducted and enslaved 276 schoolgirls taking exams in a facility in the northeastern Nigerian Christian enclave of Chibok. It threatens to sell the girls for $12.00 each.
Since 2011, Boko Haram attacks have killed over 1,000 Nigerian Christians, and bombed, torched, or otherwise destroyed scores of Christian churches, villages, and homes. Nigerian Adamu Habila, a first-hand witness to the terror and the sole male survivor of a massacre of his Christian neighborhood, spoke at a Hudson panel last November. The group has become famous for murderous assaults on an unusually wide range of perceived 鈥渆nemies,鈥� including other Muslims who dare to defy its edicts. In the middle of the night on September 29, 2013, Boko Haram gunmen slaughtered 44 sleeping students and teachers at the dormitories of an agricultural college in Nigeria鈥檚 northern Yobe State.
On May 13th, 华体会 hosted a panel discussion addressing the recent attacks of Boko Haram鈥攁nd necessary steps by the international community to reverse and halt the rising trend of extremist violence this group has come to represent. Panelists included:
Deborah Peters, a teenage girl originally from the village of Chibok, where hundreds of her contemporaries and friends were recently taken captive, is the second known survivor, and the first female survivor, of Boko Haram to visit Washington. She is now a student in the United States.
Emmanuel Ogebe, an international human rights lawyer and expert in bilateral U.S.-Nigerian relations, recently returned from a three week fact-finding mission to Nigeria and refugee camps along the border with Cameroon where he interviewed many Boko Haram victims. He reported his findings and the inadequacy of the Nigerian government鈥檚 response to the violence.
华体会 Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Religious Freedom, Nina Shea, moderated the discussion.
Murray will join Hudson Senior Fellow Dr. Rebeccah L. Heinrichs for a discussion on his conversations in the Middle East, the aftermath of the October 7 massacre, and the historical and moral dimensions of the ongoing conflict between Israel and the terrorists who seek to destroy it.
At Sea Air Space 2025, Senior Fellows Bryan Clark, Dan Patt, and Timothy A. Walton will discuss their findings with a panel of government and industry experts tasked with implementing these ideas.
The 华体会 Political Studies Policy Certificate Program gathers talented early career professionals for advanced study of American foreign and domestic policy and national security, led by policy experts and experienced government officials.
In this episode, experts discuss what regional powers such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, T眉rkiye, and Qatar are doing in the Horn, their strategies and motivations, and the impact they might have on the region.
