The families of nearly 300 mostly Christian girls abducted by the bloodthirsty jihadist group Boko Haram in 2014 from their school in Chibok, Borno State, Nigeria, said Sunday that 91 of the girls were captured by the terrorists. It has been 10 years since the tragic incident, which remains unsolved. .
On April 14, 2014, Boko Haram terrorists swarmed a public girls’ secondary school in Chibok, loaded 276 schoolgirls onto trucks and whisked them away to the dense Sambisa forest in northern Nigeria. Boko Haram, an Islamic extremist group whose name roughly translates from Hausa to mean “Western education is a sin,” forces young girls to convert to Islam and attacks hordes of terrorists in the forests. He quickly took action to get her married. The terrorist organization’s then leader, Abubakar Shekau, released a propaganda video showing girls dressed in black Islamic clothing, trophies of the group’s conquests.
“I have kidnapped your daughters. By Allah, I will sell them in the market,” Shekau promised in May 2014.
According to reports at the time, the “dowry” was for “marriage” to one of the Chibok girls. was standing For about $12.
The mass abductions and subsequent Islamist propaganda were carried out by African jihadists at the time before submitting to the authority of the brutal terrorist organization Islamic State and renaming it Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). It was the most sensational move he ever made. . Parents and loved ones organized a campaign called “Bring Back Our Girls,” demanding that the Nigerian state do everything in its power to free the victims. Celebrities like then-first lady Michelle Obama also joined the campaign by posting on social media.
Our prayers are with the missing Nigerian girls and their families.it’s time #takebackourgirl. -too pic.twitter.com/glDKDotJRt
— First Lady – Archived (@FLOTUS44) May 7, 2014
The campaign did little to encourage meaningful action to save the girls, and the event is now largely forgotten outside Nigeria. The Nigerian government has repeatedly falsely claimed that Boko Haram no longer exists, citing a rift between ISWAP terrorists and Mr. Shekau, who has been linked to his supporters and Boko Haram’s ISWAP wing. It is reported that he died in a battle between the two. However, jihadist terrorists continue to regularly carry out abductions and other acts of violence against civilians, especially Christians, in most parts of the northern half of Nigeria, particularly in Borno.
Moreover, to this day, Chibok continues to struggle with the damage caused by the 2014 kidnapping. The Murtala Muhammad Foundation (MMF), a local organization, published Monday’s report said 91 of the 276 abducted girls are still missing. Of those who fled or were rescued in exchange for ransom, many returned with children, dashing career prospects and complicating efforts to return to normal life.
“Ten years after the Chibok kidnapping sparked global outrage, kidnappings remain as prevalent on the ground in Nigeria, if not worse than a decade ago,” said MMF CEO ) Dr. Aisha Muhamed-Oyebode said on Monday.According to Nigeria daily trust.
The MMF noted in its report that 48 parents of Chibok abductees have died in the past 10 years, with many of the complications apparently resulting from stress and psychological trauma.
A year ago, when the number of parents was still 38, Chibok Girls Parents Association president Yakubu Nkeki lamented the impact on the health of parents caused by the terrorist attacks.
“In the first three years of this kidnapping, we lost 38 parents,” Nkeki said. Said. “Even the slightest illness can kill them because of high blood pressure. They suffer so much because they think too much.”
MMF Chief Muhamed Oyebode on Monday called on the Nigerian government to take steps towards the search and return of the 91 missing girls, as many of the returned girls have large numbers of children. It was pointed out that special consideration was required.
Recently liberated Chibok schoolgirls sit with their children at Army Garrison Maimalari in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Thursday, May 4, 2023. (Josie Ora, File/Associated Press)
“The report also revealed that 21 of the released Chibok girls returned with 34 children, revealing the devastating effects of sexual violence and forced marriage they endured during their captivity. It confirmed this,” Muhamed-Oyebode said.
Amina Ali Nkeki, an abductee who fled Chibok Island in 2016, told Nigeria’s Channels Television this week: I lamented He also described how many people remain in captivity, saying they are unable to return home because of their extended families. Some remained in Sambisa Forest, she claimed.
“Some mothers have three or four children. It’s not easy for them,” Nkeki said. “She said they would experience hunger, disease and other challenges of motherhood in the forest.”
Nkeki, who is married to a Boko Haram terrorist, told the network that she felt “they needed to do it.” [the terrorists] They said that if we did not agree to marry them, we would become their slaves. So, because of that fear, some of us decided to get married instead of becoming slaves. ”
In an interview with daily trust Former Borno Education Commissioner Musa Inuwa Kubo, who was on duty at the time of the kidnapping, said on Sunday. claimed Part of the reason so many girls remain missing is that in the first days after the incident, the federal government under then-President Goodluck Jonathan refused to believe a kidnapping had occurred.
This photo taken on March 31, 2024 shows Vice Principal Batule Sule inspecting the remains of a dormitory destroyed by Boko Haram fighters at Chibok Government Girls Secondary School in 2014 (Lawry)・Churchman/AFP, via Getty)
“The sad part about it all is that the authorities didn’t believe the abduction had happened. They felt this wasn’t a real abduction and that someone was trying to use it for political gain.” said Kubo.
“I believe that if the commander-in-chief had ordered the military to go into Sambisa and bring back the girls when we reported the abduction, they would have been rescued,” he continued. . “But it took about a month for them to start acting. Do you think the rebels didn’t know what they were doing? After a couple of days they started separating the girls. I did.”
Kubo added that some girls who remain in Boko Haram’s captivity “do not want to return because they have been indoctrinated by the rebels,” making the issue even more sensitive. .
In a report to mark the tragic anniversary on Monday, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) revealed that child abductions in Nigeria have skyrocketed since the Chibok girls were taken.
“Over the past 10 years, more than 1,680 children have been abducted from schools due to conflict-related violence. 180 children killed in attacks on schools,” UNICEF report read“According to a UN-verified report, an estimated 60 school staff were kidnapped and 14 were killed, and there were more than 70 attacks on schools.”
Ten years later, international aid agencies say that as a result of the combined threat of Boko Haram terrorists in the northeast and Fulani terrorist groups committing genocidal acts against Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt region, Ranked Nigeria the most dangerous place in the world for Christians. . President Joe Biden nevertheless removed Nigeria from the State Department’s list of “countries of particular concern” for religious freedom in 2021, infuriating experts on Christian persecution.
