The Bring Back our Girls campaigners today, Friday, April 14, 2017, marks the three years continuous abduction of 276 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok, Borno state.
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Group marks three years of Chibok girls' abduction
Today marks the 3rd year the Chibok girls happened in the North East, Nigeria. The Nigerian government was implored to action more active action towards securing the release of the remaining girls from their captive.
Bring Back Our Girls during 3rd Anniversary in Abuja
The Nigerian government is reaction to this anniversary announced that it is in negotiation with the insurgent groups towards the release of those still being held.
The government “is in constant touch through negotiations, through local intelligence, to secure the release of the remaining girls and other abducted persons unharmed”,President Muhammadu Buhari said in a statement on Thursday, April 13, 2017. The negotiation was said to be through “foreign entities” who are also interested in the case.
Between April 14, 2015 and now, fifty-seven girls have managed to escape soon after they were kidnapped while others were found or rescued by the military. Also, twenty-one girls were released in October, 2016 in a deal brokered by the International Red Cross and the Swiss government.
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The remaining 195 girls were rumoured to have been forced into "marry" with some of the insurgents and have since had babies. Boko Haram has kidnapped thousands of children and teenagers throughout its insurgency, often raping them and forcing them to become sex slaves or militants themselves.
The BBOG campaigner had put together a conference on the #BBOG 3rd Anniversary today in Abuja. In a speech by the Emir of Kano,HRM Muhammad Sanusi II, which was delivered by his daughter Shahida Sanisu, he argued the group broaden its scope and extend its activities to issues affecting girls and women generally.
“Our interest should be to bring back our girls, but there are some other deep seated issues affecting the girl child that the group should focus on,” he said.
“Anyone who chooses to talk for the voiceless, must be ready to face a backlash, after all the insults, the issues will remain and not go away,” the Emir said in the speech delivered.
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