In early March, Islamic militants abducted at least 100 people, mostly girls and some boys, in northeast Nigeria near Babban Sansani IDP, a camp for internally displaced people.

There are about 2 million internally displaced people in Borno and neighbouring Adamawa and Yobe states. When the IDPs are forced to flee their homes because of militant violence, they try to resettle as close as possible to government military camps for protection. The presence of so many IDPs is cultivating a humanitarian crisis, as well as creating a tremendous community vulnerable to terrorist groups.

The government has laid blame for the kidnapping on Islamic State — West Africa Province, while some terrorism experts believe the culprits were Boko Haram, specifically the JAS faction. Since the two groups split in 2016, ISWAP and Boko Haram (JAS) have been rivals, leading to violent clashes between them.

Jihad

Boko Haram is a Nigeria-based terrorist group that originated in the late 1990s. It seeks to overthrow the Nigerian Government and replace it with a regime based on Islamic law.

The group is also called Jama‘atu Ahl as-Sunnah li-Da‘awati wal-Jihad (JASDJ), which translates to "Group of the Sunni People for the Calling and Jihad," and it is sometimes referred to as the "Nigerian Taliban." The name "Boko Haram" means "Western education is forbidden."

In July 2009, Boko Haram suffered severe losses, including the killing of its leader, Muhammad Yusuf. The group's second-in-command, Abubakar Shekau, released a statement professing to be the new leader and expressing support for al-Qa‘ida while threatening the United States.

During 2014 and 2015, the group was extremely active, launching attacks against Christians nearly every day. Boko Haram later expressed solidarity with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and publicly referred to itself as "ISIL-West Africa Province."

The families of the recent abductees are calling for justice, accusing the government of silencing them, and the international community of ignoring them. Estimates of the number of children taken vary widely, suggesting that the government is not listening to parents. Community leaders and the United Nations put the number at more than 200, whereas the official government number is about half that.

In a separate incident, about 100 children were abducted on the same day in Kaduna State, about 500 miles away. Once again, there are discrepancies regarding the number of victims, with the head teacher saying that 287 students were taken.

In 2014, Boko Haram dominated international headlines when they kidnapped 276 girls from a school in Chibok. The Chibok girls, as they had become known in the international press. According to Amnesty International, an estimated 98 of the Chibok girls remain in captivity, while 64 others, who were among 780 abducted in 2021, are still being held.

Amnesty is extremely critical of the Nigerian government, alleging that until today, no significant investigation into the Chibok abductions has been undertaken. Families of the Chibok girls still in captivity say that the government is no longer communicating with them.