H. Res. 617 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
June 12, 2014. 
Whereas, on the night of April 14, 2014, 276 female stu-
dents, most of them between 15 and 18 years old, were 
abducted by Boko Haram from the Government Girls 
Secondary School, a boarding school located in the north-
eastern province of Borno in the Federal Republic of Ni-
geria; 
Whereas, all public secondary schools in Borno state were 
closed in March 2014 because of increasing attacks in 
the past year that have killed hundreds of students, but 
the young women at the Government Girls Secondary 
School were recalled to take their final exams; 
Whereas, Boko Haram burned down several buildings before 
opening fire on soldiers and police who were guarding the 
Government Girls Secondary School and forcing the stu-
dents into trucks; 
Whereas, according to local officials in Borno state, 53 stu-
dents were able to flee their captors, and the rest remain 
abducted; 
Whereas, there are reports that the abducted girls have been 
sold as brides to Islamist militants for the equivalent of 
$12 each;
•HRES 617 EH 
Whereas, the group popularly known as ‘‘Boko Haram’’, 
which loosely translates from the Hausa language to 
‘‘Western education is sin’’, is known to oppose the edu-
cation of girls; 
Whereas, on April 14, 2014, hours before the kidnapping in 
Borno state, and on May 2, 2014, Boko Haram bombed 
bus stations in Abuja, Nigeria, killing at least 94 people 
and wounding over 160, making it the deadliest set of at-
tacks ever in Nigeria’s capital; 
Whereas, Boko Haram has kidnapped girls in the past to use 
as cooks and sex slaves, and has claimed responsibility 
for the kidnapping in Borno state on April 14, 2014; 
Whereas, late May 5, 2014, suspected Boko Haram gunmen 
kidnapped an additional 8 girls, ranging in age from 12 
to 15, from a village in northeast Nigeria; 
Whereas, on May 7, 2014, Boko Haram killed at least 336 
people in Gamboru Ngala and burned hundreds of houses 
and cars; 
Whereas, on June 5, 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped an addi-
tional 20 women from northeastern Nigeria, near the 
town of Chibok; 
Whereas, reports estimate that more than 500 students and 
100 teachers have been killed by Boko Haram and have 
destroyed roughly 500 schools in northern Nigeria, leav-
ing more than 15,000 students without access to edu-
cation; 
Whereas, Boko Haram has targeted schools, mosques, 
churches, villages, and agricultural centers, as well as 
government facilities, in an armed campaign to create an 
Islamic state in northern Nigeria, prompting the Presi-
•HRES 617 EH 
dent of Nigeria to declare a state of emergency in three 
of the country’s northeastern states in May 2013; 
Whereas, human rights groups have indicated that the Nige-
rian state security forces should improve efforts to pro-
tect civilians during offensive operations against Boko 
Haram; 
Whereas, according to nongovernmental organizations, more 
than 1,500 people have been killed in attacks by Boko 
Haram or reprisals by Nigerian security forces this year 
alone, and that almost 4,000 people have been killed in 
Boko Haram attacks since 2011; 
Whereas, the enrollment, retention, and completion of edu-
cation for girls in Nigeria remains a major challenge; 
Whereas, according to the United Nations Children’s Emer-
gency Fund (UNICEF), some 4,700,000 children of pri-
mary school age are still not in school in Nigeria, with 
attendance rates lowest in the north; 
Whereas, studies have found that school children in Nigeria, 
particularly those in the northern provinces, are at a dis-
advantage in their education, with 37 percent of primary- 
age girls in the rural northeast not attending school, and 
30 percent of boys not attending school; 
Whereas, women and girls must be allowed to go to school 
without fear of violence and unjust treatment so that 
they can take their rightful place as equal citizens of and 
contributors to society; 
Whereas United States security assistance to Nigeria has em-
phasized military professionalization, peacekeeping sup-
port and training, and border and maritime security; 
Whereas, the Department of State designated Boko Haram 
as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in November 2013,