On this day, exactly a
year ago, news went out on most media that over 200 school girls had been
kidnapped by the dreaded Boko Haram sect, from their school where they were
writing the West African Examination Council (WAEC), West African Senior School
Certificate Examination (SSCE). Boko Haram had been known to carry out attacks
on educational institutions previously, but on those occasions, they’ve always
burnt the schools and shot at fleeing students like they did in Yobe. This
time, they abducted the girls instead.
When the news broke, it
was quite difficult for me to comprehend how over 200 girls were kidnapped from
a school and carried across the state with no military interception or even
knowledge. It was somewhat confusing to most Nigerians when the military
debunked the news, saying that no such thing had happened.
The parents and people
of Chibok community including the officials of the school kept crying out to
whoever cared to listen that their daughters had been abducted from the school.
After a while the Nigerian Military and Federal Government accepted that the
girls were truly missing. A little bit too late some of us thought.
Concerned Nigerians
began to advocate for the rescue of the girls whilst condemning the silence and
reluctance of the Federal Government. Soon a movement started and like wild
fire, the hashtag “#BringBackOurGilrs went viral and began to trend across
social media platforms all over the world. It soon got the attention of
international media houses like the BBC, CNN and AlJazeera. Foreign celebrities
like Michelle Obama and several others, subscribed to the #BringBackOurGirls
campaign, taking selfies with raised placards in solidarity with the
campaigners to raise awareness for foreign involvement in the quest to rescue
the girls. Malala Yousafzai the Pakistani activist for female education and the
youngest ever Nobel laureate, came to Nigeria to meet with the Parents of the
missing girls and also with the President. She pleaded that more efforts be put
towards rescuing the missing girls and also ensuring the safety of other girls
and school children. That was when stern pressure began to mount on the
Nigerian Government to take the fight to rescue the girls serious.
After several months
had passed and over a hundred days of the girls being in captivity, News broke
of a “supposed” ceasefire agreement the Government had reached with “alleged” representatives
of Boko Haram after series of meetings held at the instance of the Chadian Government.
Finally a glimmer of hope for the release of the girls still in captivity we
thought, but this was never to be, as days passed after the day the Federal
Government officials had said the girls would be released and none of them
regained freedom.
Days turned into weeks,
weeks into months, and now it’s been a full year and 219 girls have still not
been released or rescued. What saddens my heart most is the level of
insensitivity by some Nigerians and also the deplorable indifference by the Government
to the cries and yearnings of the families of the missing girls. While so many
irrational Nigerians have argued the genuineness of the abduction, insisting
that it is a hoax by the community on the rest of us just to attract sympathy
and attention from people, the Government kept pointing accusing fingers on the
opposition rather than making hasty efforts to secure their rescue, saying it
is a staged attempt to undermine the current administration so as to poison the
minds of Nigerian citizens, to stop them from reelecting the administration.
Whichever way you look
at it, people’s daughters, sisters and friends are still missing and I think we
must all put that at the back of our minds. Accusing people who have not been
able to live their normal lives for about a year, thinking about the fate of
their girls, of playing out scripts is really cruel and callous.
I’ve heard sympathizers
of the current administration make imprudent comments like “Shey May 29th
is almost here? Let’s see how Buhari brings back the girls.” “Hope Buhari brings
back the girls oh!” With the tone in which these persons say these things, it’s
quite obvious that they’re hoping he fails from the aura of pessimism that
comes from them. Such statements are rather sad and unfortunate.
I won’t say I know how
their families feel but I really would love to see those girls released or
rescued as soon as possible. It shouldn’t matter who takes credit for their
freedom, whether the present administration or the incoming one. All we want is
for the girls to regain their freedom and duly reunited with their families and
friends sooner than later.
May God continue to
comfort their loved ones as they go through this period of grief, and may he keep
all of the girls safe and hasten all efforts to secure their timely release.
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