How the Nigerian government is fuelling Boko Haram's kidnapping industry

This woman was abducted by Boko Haram in an attack on her home town
This woman was abducted by Boko Haram in an attack on her home town Credit:  Leke Alabi-Isama

Adamu Mohammed had braced himself for the worst. Five weeks ago, when Boko Haram gunmen staged a mass abduction in the northern Nigerian town of Dapchi, his 15-year-old daughter Maryam was among the 110 girls dragged off in broad daylight.

As he prayed daily for her safe return, he knew all too well she could be forced into sex slavery, conscripted as a suicide bomber, or simply never seen again.

Last Wednesday, he did not bother attending a planned "solidarity" meeting with parents of the missing Chibok girls, convened by Dapchi elders in a vain attempt to raise morale. After all, if their children were still missing nearly four years later, despite the global #bringbackourgirls campaign, what...

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