SPECIAL PUBLICATION: Fifth year anniversary of the abduction of the Chibok Girls

WED, APRIL 10 2019-theG&BJournal- Sunday April 14, 2019 will mark the 5^th anniversary of the abduction of 276 schoolgirls from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State by Boko Haram.

• 57 girls escaped in the first 24 hours.
• In the last 5 years, 107 of the 219 girls held captive either escaped; were released after negotiations; or were found after the army liberated the areas where they were being held.
• To date, 112 Chibok Girls remain captives of the terrorists.

On Monday February 19, 2018, 111 secondary schoolgirls, one primary school girl, and one primary school boy; 113 children in total, were abducted from Government Girls Science & Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State by Islamic State West Africa, a splinter group of Boko Haram.

• After government negotiations 106 of the girls, and the boy were released after 31 days in captivity.
• To date, 6 DapchiGirls have not returned, with reports that five died during the abduction and were buried, while Leah Sharibu was reported to have been denied release because she refused torenounce her faith.

In March 2018, three international aid workers were kidnapped while providing humanitarian aid at an internally displaced persons’camp in Rann, Borno State – Alice LokshaNggadah of UNICEF, Hauwa Muhammad Liman and SaifuraHussani Ahmed of the Red Cross.

• Hauwa and Saifura have since been brutally executed. May their souls rest in perfect peace.
• Alice Ngaddahremains in captivity.

These are just some of the many cases of missing, killed and kidnapped Nigerians, totaling thousands of lives, that the massacre of the BuniYadi boys in a government boarding school in Yobe brought to the limelight.

We are aware of the efforts made so far,  and commend the government for the recovery of 107 Chibok girls, and 106 Dapchi girls. We also acknowledge and honour the sacrifice of our police & militaryand express our condolences and prayers to the families of our heroes in the police and armed forces. Just this past week, police officers have been targeted and slain in several states of our federation. This is unacceptable.

Therefore, we will not relent in our advocacy and strident demands for the rescue of our school children and fellow citizens from captivity.  We demand:

1. justice for the slain
2. resettlement and rehabilitation for people displaced by the violence
3. safe schools
4. the launch of the National Missing Persons Register; and
5. proper welfare, equipment and support for officers and families of our police & armed forces.

As concerned citizens of this country, the #BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) advocacy group has highlighted the plight of these innocent girls, and other victims of insurgency, and the neglect of our police and armed forces. We have advocated at a global level and engaged the government and other agencies in a constructive manner to secure the rescue of the girls.  Our advocacy includes nearly 5 years of a daily sit-out in Abuja; weekly sit-outs in Lagos; periodic events in Ibadan, Osogbo, New York & Washington, DC; visits to key local and international stakeholders; development of strategies and tools such as ‘Citizens Solutions to End Terrorism’ and the ‘Verification, Authentication and Reunification System (VARS)’.

The Bring Back Our Girls movement has served as a source of sensitization and education to our citizens about how to peacefully and persistently demand for our rights from our public servants and elected officials.

While we remain hopeful and expectant of the imminent news of the rescue of ALL the girls, if this hope does not materialize before Sunday, April 14, 2019, we will mark the 5^thyear of captivity for 112 Chibok Girls by gathering with members of the Chibok community and members of BBOG from all over Lagos to remind our government and the world that they are still missing at the following events:

The chapters in Abuja, London, New York & Washington DC are will also host events to mark this sad anniversary.

As our partners in progress, development, and democracy, we ask you, the media, to support this movement that promotes good governance and accountability from our elected officials in the protection of citizens’ lives and property, especially the protection of our children and the schools they attend.

Please join us to call on national, regional and global influencers and authorities to support and pressure the Nigerian government to bring the nightmare to school abductions, violent extremism and insecurity to an end.

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