Boko Haram

====Chibok kidnapping====
{{main|Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping}}
[[File:Michelle-obama-bringbackourgirls.jpg|thumb|[[Michelle Obama]] raising public awareness of the Chibok kidnapping]]

On 14–15 April, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from [[Chibok]], Borno. Shekau announced his intention of selling them into [[slavery in Nigeria|slavery]]. More than 50 escaped. The incident brought Boko Haram extended global media attention, much of it focused on the pronouncements of the [[First Lady of the United States|U.S. Former First Lady]] [[Michelle Obama]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/michelle-obama-bringbackourgirls-106645.html|title=Michelle Obama's hashtag gamble|last=Epstein|first=Jennifer|website=[[Politico]]|date=13 May 2014 |language=en|access-date=2020-01-28}}</ref> Faced with condemnation for his perceived incompetence, as well as allegations from Amnesty International of state collusion, President Jonathan responded by hiring a Washington [[Public relations|PR]] firm.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2013/06/210204.htm |publisher=U.S. Department of State |title=Rewards for Justice – First Reward Offers for Terrorists in West Africa |date=3 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Nigeria says 219 girls in Boko Haram kidnapping still missing |url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/nigeria-says-219-girls-in-boko-haram-kidnapping-still-missing |website=[[Fox News]] |date=24 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls: Michelle Obama condemns abduction in |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/nigeria-kidnapped-schoolgirls-michelle-obama-delivers-weekly-presidential-address-condemning-abduction-9349085.html |website=[[The Independent]] |language=en |date=10 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Jonathan's PR offensive backfires in Nigeria and abroad |url=https://news.yahoo.com/jonathans-pr-offensive-backfires-nigeria-abroad-131630710.html |website=news.yahoo.com|date=8 July 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Wilson |first1=Megan R. |title=Nigeria hires PR for Boko Haram fallout |url=https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/210635-nigeria-hires-pr-for-boko-haram-fallout |website=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|language=en |date=26 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Nigeria: Government knew of planned Boko Haram kidnapping but failed to act |url=https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/nigeria-government-knew-planned-boko-haram-kidnapping-failed-act |website=www.amnesty.org.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Chibok Abduction: NANS Describes Jonathan As Incompetent |url=http://leadership.ng/news/378785/chibok-abduction-nans-describes-jonathan-incompetent |website=www.leadership.ng |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819085022/http://leadership.ng/news/378785/chibok-abduction-nans-describes-jonathan-incompetent |archive-date=2014-08-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=One month after Chibok girls' abduction |url=https://thenationonlineng.net/new/one-month-chibok-girls-abduction/ |website=www.thenationonlineng.net |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519072653/https://thenationonlineng.net/new/one-month-chibok-girls-abduction/ |archive-date=2014-05-19}}</ref>

Parents of the missing girls and those who had escaped were kept waiting until July to meet with the president, which caused them concern. In October, the government announced the girls' imminent release, but the information proved unreliable. The announcement to the media of a peace agreement and the imminent release of all the missing girls was followed days later by a video message in which Shekau stated that no such meeting had taken place and that the girls had been "married off". The announcement to the media, unaccompanied by any evidence of the reality of the agreement, was thought by analysts to have been a political ploy by the president to raise his popularity before his confirmation of his candidacy in the [[2015 Nigerian general election|2015 general election]]. Earlier in the year, the girls' plight had featured on "#BringBackOurGirls" political campaign posters in the streets of the capital, which the president denied knowledge of and soon took down after news of criticism surfaced. These posters, which were interpreted, to the dismay of campaigners for the girls' recapture, as being designed to benefit from the fame of the kidnapping, had also been part of Jonathan's "pre-presidential campaign". In September, "#BringBackGoodluck2015" campaign posters again drew criticism.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-10/nigeria-s-president-jonathan-bans-bring-back-goodluck-campaign.html |title=Nigeria's President Jonathan Bans 'Bring Back Goodluck' Campaign |publisher=[[Bloomberg News|Bloomberg]] |author=Daniel Magnowski |date=10 September 2014 |access-date=20 November 2014}}</ref> The official announcement of the president's candidacy was made before cheering crowds in Abuja on 11 November.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/nigeria-politics-idUKL6N0T136F20141111 |title=Nigeria's Jonathan seeks second term, vows to beat Boko Haram |work=[[Reuters]]|author=Felix Onuah |date=11 November 2014 |access-date=11 November 2014}}</ref>

In February 2016, the organizations [[International Alert]] and [[UNICEF]] published a study revealing that girls and women released from Boko Haram captivity often face rejection upon returning to their communities and families, in part due to a culture of stigma around sexual violence.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/feb/16/women-freed-boko-haram-rejected-for-bringing-bad-blood-back-home-nigeria |title=Women freed from Boko Haram rejected for bringing 'bad blood' back home |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |author=Liz Ford |date=16 February 2016|access-date=15 July 2016}}</ref>