On the 14th April 2014, over 200 students were abducted from a Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok area of Borno state, northern Nigeria by a terrorist sect in Nigeria called ‘Boko Haram’  (western education is a sin). News like “the Federal Government has condemned the abduction of the girls and vows that the culprits will pay” were repeatedly reported by the press. After condemning the terrorists’ deeds, what valid actions were taken against it? There was a time I was literally scared to read the news to avoid being disappointed at hearing of a failed attempt to rescue the abducted girls.

 

Sources confirm that the Boko Haram sect is not faceless as they make us believe. These girls and their abductors were actually seen by protesting women, who were brave enough to go in search of the girls with some military troops, but were persuaded to return back to their homes for safety reasons with the faith that the soldiers will invade the camps and rescue the girls, but nothing was done after that. Questions on the mind of many is what is the brain plan behind the actions of the Boko Haram sect. A report revealed that the Boko Haram found it strategic to keep the girls to save their camps from bombardment by the Nigerian military troops, using the presence of the innocent girls in their camp as defense. Imagine the trauma the parents and guardians of those school girls have experienced. Two weeks later, and these women are yet to get concrete information on the whereabouts of their daughters.  Just when we were making some progress with girl-child education and recorded increments in school enrollment rates in the Northern part of Nigeria, this happens.

 

On the 30th of April, hundreds of women marched the streets of Abuja the capital of Nigeria, protesting for the rescue of the missing girls. A mother of one of the victims in a tearful mood said

 

“where are the human right groups in this country? Is there no government in the country? Are there no fathers and mothers in the government again to deem it fit to tell us what is happening…… if our children are dead, where are the bodies? Let us see the bodies.”  These girls are currently rumored to be sold to the fighters for early marriage for a token of 2000 naira ($12) or smuggled out of the country to fighters, their fate, totally unknown. Ironically at the same time, Nigerian political parties are holding ‘peaceful’ congresses nationwide in preparation for next year’s election amidst the trauma going on. What happened to basic social responsibility and being your brother’s keeper? How can a human being with a functioning heart not be concerned about the fate of these missing girls and the trauma and uncertainty the mothers are facing? 

 

It is such a shame that we have not only aired our dirty laundry for the whole word to see, but we actually have more faith in international organizations and other nations of the world to help us than our own government. Please sign this petition for the Nigerian government to perform its duty by rescuing this girls with immediate effect and stop condemning the actions of the terrorists from the comfort of their luxurious offices.

 

To say or do nothing about this is to be insensitive and inhumane. This is our collective responsibility.