Boko Haram and the ceasefire that wasn’t

The ceasefire between Boko Haram and the Nigerian government – announced on Thursday, with much fanfare, by government spokesmen – has already been broken. If, that is, it actually existed in the first place. Neither Boko Haram nor the Nigerian government indulge in much straight talk. The foundation of Boko Haram’s public communications are long, violent videos that begin with a sermon and end in a messy public beheading, the irony of that juxtaposition lost on the wild-eyed fanatics who exhort supporters to more and bloodier killings in God’s name. Nonetheless, it is effective. Boko Haram, and especially the group’s leader Abubakar Shekau, are experts at turning acts of violence into media attention