by Sarah Rovinsky

On Tuesday, April 27, the Nigerian army announced that it had rescued hundreds of kidnapped women and children. In the same region of northern Nigeria, where the abducted were retrieved, new evidence came to light of a mass killing committed by Boko Haram, a notorious terrorist organization in the area.

Later that day the army tweeted that 200 girls and 93 women were liberated. They were abducted from the Sambisa Forest, an area that Boko Haram has been suspected of operating in. The New York Times says, “The mass abduction ignited international alarm at Boko Haram’s unchecked rampages across northern Nigeria. In response, the government has repeatedly declared in the past year that it had reached a cease fire with Boko Haram, that the girls would soon be rescued, that they had been located and even, on a previous occasion that they had already been rescued. The claims quickly proved to be untrue.”

Mr. Monguno said in the same interview, “How could they rescue over 200 women without getting Shekau (Abubakar Shekau, the leader of B.H.) or the top B.H. commanders? How many were killed? Without clear explanation people will always believe they just want to cover up.” Recently, the Nigerian army and other forces have recovered ground lost to Boko Haram, and the terrorist group remains on the defensive.