August 14, 2016

Boko Haram Wants To Rebrand

The Nigerian extremist group Boko Haram released a new video, showing roughly 50 of the 200 school girls they kidnapped from Chibok in 2014. In the video, Boko Haram reiterates that they’ll only release the Chibok girls if the Nigerian government agrees to release captured fighters in exchange. The timing of this video may be part of Boko Haram’s latest attempt to rebrand and market itself. There was recently a split within the terrorist group, with one faction maintaining that it is the true regional branch of ISIS. The video indicates that the other faction, led by Abubakar Shekau, is actually the one holding the Chibok girls, giving them more bargaining power than originally thought. The video also tries to rally public sympathy for their cause, arguing that the government is to blame for the death of many of the kidnapped girls, as they were present during airstrikes and other military campaigns. Overall the video is a poorly executed recruitment promo, starring 50 people who never wanted to join. 

Yes, I want to sound marginally more intelligent: