ABC News quotes Africa Center Deputy Director Bronwyn Bruton on the statement made by Boko Haram’s leader that he plans to sell more than 200 abducted schoolgirls in the marketplace:
Boko Haram, formally known as Jama’atu Ahl as-Sunnah il-Da’awati wal-Jihad, was designated by the U.S. as a terrorist organization in November 2013, but that wasn’t the group’s initial outlook. According to Bronwyn Bruton, the Deputy Director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council, the group that would become known as Boko Haram started as a local organization that dealt mainly with local grievances until 2009 when a previous leader was executed.
“The video of his execution was posted online and it prompted a strong backlash by a group of more radical leaders,” Bruton told ABC News.
[…]
The State Department says Boko Haram has been responsible for the death of thousands of people and has conducted many other kidnappings and targeted killings in the past, including cross-border operations in Cameroon. When young girls are kidnapped, such as in this most recent case, Bruton said most will likely be kept by Boko Haram as “sex slaves” who are also made to cook, clean and do other household chores. Others could be sold into sham “marriages” in nearby African countries of Cameroon and Chad.