On January 21^st Cameroonian troops and their allies have freed a German man who was held for six months by Islamist terror group Boko Haram.  Boko Haram kidnapped German citizen Robert Nitsch Eberhard in Nigeria. The rescue mission that the Cameroonian troops followed was not discussed during the press conference. Robert stated that he did not know if he would make it out alive or not. He described the Boko Haram militants as dark, just total darkness. I would interpret that to mean that they had done some pretty dramatic things to him physically and mentally.  That was all that was said by Robert, he did not go into detail about what the Boko Haram militants did to him.

The big question I ask myself is why in the first place did they even kidnap him?

I understand why the kidnap little boys and girls, but what message could they be possibly sending by taking an elderly man?  The only connection that gives us the clue why he got kidnapped is that he he was teaching at a vocational school in Gombe, Adamawa state, Nigeria, before the insurgents took him hostage in July. Boko Haram could be trying to stop education therefore taking teachers that are promoting it.

On Sunday, suspected Boko Haram militants kidnapped 80 people in Cameroon's Far North Region, officials in the country said. By Monday, military operations had freed 24 of the captives; three others were found dead, state-run media reported.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/21/world/cameroon-boko-haram-german-hostage/