# Nigerian Hunters Want to Find abducted SchoolgirlsGirls **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 19, 2014, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-hunters-want-to-find-abducted-schoolgirlsgirls/688758 "2014-05-19T19:07:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-hunters-want-to-find-abducted-schoolgirlsgirls/688758/1 "2014-05-19T19:07:27Z")
Interesting idea. No one knows the bush areas of Nigeria like the aboriginal hunters. Their tracking and stalking skills could be very helpful. They’d have more chance of getting the locals to tell them about strangers in the area. I’m not sure about using them for the rescue. But from what I’ve read the Nigerian Army is not exactly highly trained either. So far they haven’t convinced me they could find their own ass with both hands. I can’t imagine any hostage rescue attempt going very well. [http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/traditional-nigerian-hunters-find-girls-23778633](http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/traditional-nigerian-hunters-find-girls-23778633) > [@](#): > > Some 500 hunters, some as young as 18 and some in their 80s, say they have been specially selected by their peers for their spiritual hunting skills and have been waiting for two weeks in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital and the birthplace of Boko Haram, to get backing from the military and get moving. > > With Nigeria’s military accused by many citizens of not doing enough to rescue the girls, the hunters demonstrated their skills to an Associated Press reporter on Sunday. With cow horn trumpets echoing eerie war cries from the screaming and chanting men who twirled knives and swords with dexterity, occasionally stabbing and cutting themselves with no apparent harm. The hunters claimed their magic charms prevented any blood being drawn. They also trust amulets of herbs and other substances wrapped in leather pouches as well as cowrie shells, animal teeth and leather bracelets to protect them from bullets. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-hunters-want-to-find-abducted-schoolgirlsgirls/688758/2 "2014-05-19T19:55:33Z")
They’re going to use magic to rescue the girls. That should be super effective. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-hunters-want-to-find-abducted-schoolgirlsgirls/688758/3 "2014-05-19T20:12:13Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > They’re going to use magic to rescue the girls. Donald Sterling ain’t gonna like this! ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-hunters-want-to-find-abducted-schoolgirlsgirls/688758/4 "2014-05-19T20:17:07Z")
I try to ignore the magic and spirits talk. The aborigines still manage to track and stalk game a city guy like me would never find. The rituals they follow doesn’t necessarily effect their tracking ability. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-hunters-want-to-find-abducted-schoolgirlsgirls/688758/5 "2014-05-19T20:30:45Z")
Let them find the young women, scope out the conditions where they’re held, and then decide from there how best to deal with the situation. And the best response may very well be for the hunters to do the rescue themselves (probably not a very good response, but can anyone come up with anything better?). ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-hunters-want-to-find-abducted-schoolgirlsgirls/688758/6 "2014-05-20T22:43:52Z")
Look, I love science. I have an analytical approach to things and I fully trust in the scientific method. But I’m not sure it serves us best to **always** assume that **all** “woo woo stuff” is bullshit. If their ritual preparations help them to focus, and concentrate on their tracking skills, and induce a sense of courage and a positive outlook – then it has a real-world function. I’m just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-hunters-want-to-find-abducted-schoolgirlsgirls/688758/7 "2014-05-21T00:20:40Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > They’re going to use magic to rescue the girls. > > That should be super effective. Nigerian Bushman #553 uses AK-47 against Boko Haram #446. It’s super effective! ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-hunters-want-to-find-abducted-schoolgirlsgirls/688758/8 "2014-05-21T01:20:02Z")
It’s not like these guys are some crazy unconnected tribesman fresh from the depths of the jungle, and the image of these guys are “aboriginal hunters” cracks me up. These guys are pretty much ordinary guys without particularly exotic lives. Guns are rare in the area, and require a supply of expensive bullets. Bows and arrows, on the other hand, are easy to make and practice with, and they are the default back up security locally. Most houses have a guard or two, and if they are armed it will be with a bow and arrow. Additionally, it’s a farming area so pretty much everyone is good with the machete (kids even bring machetes to school to help clear bush around the schoolyard for PE.) There is hunting in the area, but mostly it’s trapping. Now and then someone will take up the affection of being a “traditional man” and go out to the bush to hunt old-school style. But it’s kind of the local equivalent of modern off-the-gridders. Some people think it’s cool, but it’s also kind of out there. As for the magic, it’s just a part of everyday life. It can’t really be separated out.