The Pictures Of Fear!

The Nigerian extremist group claims they've held hostage 300 girls and women. They threaten to kill or sell them into sex slavery.

The junk food media has made Boko Haram a household name. The Nigerian extremist group with known ties to terrorism has been linked to the kidnapping of schoolgirls in a small rural village outside of Chibok.

The government aided by international forces must search about 1500 miles of land to find these hostages.

From Abuja to Washington, DC, the American people have shown compassion towards this.

The international community condemns this situation.

The students are being forced into Islam and into marriage with members of Boko Haram, with a reputed "bride price" of ₦2,000 each ($12.50/£7.50).

Many of the students were taken to the neighboring countries of Chad and Cameroon, with sightings reported of the students crossing borders with the militants, and sightings of the students by villagers living in the Sambisa Forest.

The forest is considered a refuge for Boko Haram. Local residents have been able to track the movements of the students with the help of contacts across north eastern Nigeria.

On May 2, the police said they were still unclear as to the exact number of students who were kidnapped. They asked parents to provide documents so an official count could be made since school records were damaged in the attack.

On May 4, the Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, spoke publicly about the kidnapping for the first time, saying the government was doing everything it could to find the missing girls.

At the same time, he blamed parents for not supplying enough information about their missing children to the police.

On May 5, a video in which Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau claimed responsibility for the kidnappings emerged. Shekau claimed that "Allah instructed me to sell them...I will carry out his instructions." and "Slavery is allowed in my religion, and I shall capture people and make them slaves."

He said the girls should not have been in the school and instead they should be married since girls as young as nine are suitable for marriage.

Following the kidnapping incident, Boko Haram again abducted eight girls aged between 12–15 from northeast Nigeria.

At least 300 residents of the nearby town of Gamboru Ngala were killed in an attack by Boko Haram militants after Nigerian security forces had left the town to search for the kidnapped students.

On May 10, former Boko Haram negotiator, Shehu Sani stated that the group wanted to swap the abducted girls for its jailed members.

On May 11, Kashim Shettima, Governor of Borno State in Nigeria, said that he has sighted the abducted girls and that the girls were not taken across the borders of Cameroon or Chad.

On May 12, Boko Haram released a video showing about 130 kidnapped Girls clad in Burqah while it demanded prisoner exchange.

Developments continue as this story is covered here and through sources such as the Associated Press, Wikipedia and CNN.