The claims in the audio tape, if true, could mark a widening influence of jihadist groups operating in northeastern Nigeria, political analysts said. A security source told Reuters Boko Haram was not itself involved in the abduction, but that the kidnappers could have sold the boys to the Islamist group. On Monday, an attack blamed on Boko Haram killed 28 people and burned 800 homes in the southern Diffa region of Niger, which borders Nigeria to the north. Boko Haram carried out the 2014 kidnap of more than 200 girls from a school in the northeastern town of Chibok. More than 30,000 people have been killed since Boko Haram began its insurgency, aimed at creating an Islamic state.

Source: The North Africa Journal December 15, 2020 17:26 UTC