ABUJA\/JOS, Nigeria \u201d\u201c On Thursday, Nigerians marked the 500th day since the kidnapping of almost 300 mostly Christian schoolgirls from the remote town of Chibok by Boko Haram, the radical Islamic terrorist group held responsible for more than 17,000 deaths here since 2009.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s long been frustrating for Nigerians that their armed forces, with 200,000 active duty troops, 300,000 paramilitary personnel, a budget of $3.25 billion, and a history of successful peacekeeping operations in neighboring countries, has been either unable or unwilling to get Boko Haram under control.<\/p>\n
The fact that most of the Chibok girls remain missing 16 months into their abduction is the single most damning symbol of that failure.
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\nIn Christian circles, the fact that Boko Haram is still operational despite the seeming mismatch with the army has bred suspicions that politicians may have encouraged inaction in order to gain votes or to terrorize their enemies, and that some military personnel may either be on the payroll of Boko Haram or sympathetic to its agenda.<\/p>\n
In mid-August, Nigeria\u2019s new no-nonsense president, a former army commander named Muhammadu Buhari, vowed all that would change.<\/p>\n
Buhari promised to wipe out Boko Haram \u201cwithin three months,\u201d\u009d and especially for Christians, it\u2019s tempting to want to believe it. Yet for many, the war that defines their attitude isn\u2019t so much the one between the government and Boko Haram, but rather the one that pits hope against experience.<\/p>\n
Often, that translates into skepticism vis-\u00c3\u00a0-vis Buhari\u2019s pledge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s just a typically empty political statement,\u201d\u009d said Samson Tsok, who lives in the north central Nigerian state of Plateau that\u2019s been an epicenter of Muslim\/Christian clashes for the past 15 years…<\/p>\n