BBOG member slumps during protest for Leah Sharibu, UN workers

Aisha Yesufu, a member of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) advocacy group slumped during a protest for abducted Dapchi schoolgirl,

The incident took place at the entrance to the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, in Abuja on Wednesday, September 19, 2018.

Led by its co-convener, Oby Ezekwesili, members of the BBOG group had embarked on a protest march from the Unity Fountain to the Villa to demand the release of Leah, abducted UN aid workers and others in Boko Haram captivity.

They were denied access to President Muhammadu Buhari by a combined team of anti-riot and gun-wielding Police officers.

The group decided to hold its press conference under the scorching sun at the entrance to the Villa.

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BBOG members and journalists stood while Ezekwesili read the group’s statement.

Barely 30 minutes later, Yesufu – while trying to hold on to a female journalist – fell to the ground.

“Aisha! Help her up,” Ezekwesili ordered.

As some members of the group assisted in raising her up, Ezekwesili continued; “Those are the things we suffer but we are going to keep standing. God knows how many times we have suffered this kind of situation amongst us. But we are going to keep standing.

“Not to stand is not something we even contemplate. We made a promise to stand for our Chibok Girls till the very end. We thought It would only be our Chibok Girls that would be this kind of tragedy on our land but it happened to the Dapchi Girls, Rann women and Lassa women.

"And some of you are not paying attention to the fact that a society that permits for one to be treated as if their lives don’t matter will have the lives of all not meaning anything,” she declared while continuing with the statement.

Yesufu regained consciousness shortly after she was rushed into a nearby vehicle.

The group are demanding the immediate release of those in Boko Haram captivity and a halt to “secret burials” of military personnel who died during the counter-terrorism war amongst others.