The Boko Haram have been known as Nigeria’s main terrorist group. In their native Hausa language, Boko Haram literally means “Western education is sinful”. Their main goal is to enforce Sharia’ Law, an Islamic way of governing and living, in the Nigerian government. Included in their beliefs is the common extremist view that women should not be educated and instead should be at home cooking and cleaning. Their fundamentalism has constantly turned down many Nigerians, so they have taken to violence to spread their message.

 Last year in April, they vowed to expand their efforts through the kidnapping and selling of girls. They fulfilled that threat when they abducted 276 school girls as young as age 12 in a remote Nigerian village on April 14. They burned down buildings in a nearby town and posed as soldiers coming for their rescue. The girls climbed into the trucks and disappeared into the northern forests of Nigeria. Unless they get rescued, the girls will most likely end up as sex slaves or child brides.

 Freshman Taylor Cantwell heard about this and said, “I think that we should be thankful to go to school in a place where we don’t have to fear our lives. It is really scary to think about how that stuff happens.”

 Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan did not say anything about the abduction until three weeks later and when he finally gave his remarks, he ended up criticising the parents and families of those abducted for cooperating in the search for the girls. What is ironic about his statement is that the military lied a few days after the abduction when they told the families that all but eight of the girls had been freed when in reality, all 276 school girls are still captive. After all hope for government assistance was lost, some parents took it into their own hands to search for their daughters and armed themselves with machetes and guns as they tackled their long search.

 While the government did not respond to the situation in an effective manner, the International community has proven to be outraged. A Twitter hashtag #BringBackOurGirls has become viral on social media as the community continues to look for them. First Lady Michelle Obama took a picture with the hashtag and tweeted, “”Our prayers are with the missing Nigerian girls and their families. It’s time to #BringBackOurGirls. -mo”.

 Parents are outraged and scared and so are other countries neighboring Nigeria. The Boko Haram have ties with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban and the world believes that if they take such strong control over the country now, their influence could travel beyond the borders of Nigeria.

 “I think it would be smart of our government to help them because they [Boko Haram] could become as strong as Al-Qaeda and do something like 9/11,” said sophomore Victor Canavra.

 The United States government has offered assistance in the search for the girls, but will only give it if the operation is headed by the Nigerian military. On May 12, the Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau offered to trade the girls for their prisoners who had been captured by the government for various crimes. There is no say in how the Nigerian government will respond to that, so the search for the girls lingers on.