The kidnapping of the Chibok girls by Boko Haram was a tragic and horrific event that shocked the world. It is unfortunate that after 9 years, there are still 96 of the girls who remain in captivity. It is important to continue to raise awareness and demand for their safe return, as well as for the rescue of all other individuals who have been kidnapped by Boko Haram and other terrorist groups.
It is also concerning that the world has seemingly moved on from this issue, as the safe return of these girls is still of utmost importance. However, it is not too late to continue to raise awareness and demand for their release. The use of social media and other forms of communication can be helpful in keeping this issue in the public eye and pressuring authorities to take action.
It is important to remember that these girls and their families have been through unimaginable trauma and deserve justice and closure. We must continue to demand action until all of the Chibok girls are safely reunited with their families.
“#ChibokGirls Some 9 years ago schoolgirls from Chibok in Borno state were kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists, the world rose hysterically to demand their unconditional release, today there are still 96 of the girls in captivity but the world has also hysterically moved on. #BringBackOurGirls #Revolutionnow,” Omoyele Sowore, activist, founder Sahara Reporters shared on Facebook.
Where are the girls?
On the night of 14–15 April 2014, 276 mostly Christian female students aged 16 to 18 years were kidnapped by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram from the Government Girls Secondary School at the town of Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria. Prior to the raid, the school had been closed for four weeks due to deteriorating security conditions, but the girls were in attendance in order to take final exams in physics.
Fifty-seven (57) of the schoolgirls escaped immediately following the incident by jumping from the trucks on which they were being transported, and others have been rescued by the Nigerian Armed Forces on various occasions. Hopes have been raised that the 219 remaining girls might be released, however some girls are believed to be dead. Amina Ali, one of the missing girls, was found in May 2016. She claimed that the remaining girls were still there, but that six had died.As of 14 April 2021, seven years after the initial kidnapping, over 100 of the girls remain missing.
Some have described their capture in appearances at international human rights conferences.Boko Haram has used the girls as negotiating pawns in prisoner exchanges, offering to release some girls in exchange for some of their captured commanders in jail.
The girls kidnapped in Chibok in 2014 are only a small percentage of the total number of people abducted by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram. Amnesty International estimated in 2015 that at least 2,000 women and girls had been abducted by the Islamic terrorist group since 2014, many of whom had been forced into sexual slavery.
Boko Haram Target Schools
Boko Haram began to target schools in 2010, killing hundreds of students by 2014. A spokesperson for the group said such attacks would continue as long as the Nigerian government continued to interfere with traditional Islamic education. Ten thousand children have been unable to attend school as a result of activities by Boko Haram. Boko Haram has also been known to kidnap girls, whom it believes should not be educated, and use them as cooks or sex slaves.
On 6 July 2013, armed men from Boko Haram attacked Government Secondary School in Mamudo, Yobe State, killing at least 42 people. Most of those killed were students, with some staff members among the dead. On 29 September 2013, armed men from Boko Haram gained access to the male hostel in the College of Agriculture in Gujba, Yobe State, killing forty-four students and teachers.
Boko Haram’s attacks intensified in 2014. In February, the group killed more than 100 Christian men in the villages of Doron Baga and Izghe. That same month, 59 boys were killed in the Federal Government College attack in northeastern Nigeria.In March, the group attacked the Giwa military barracks, freeing captured militants.The Chibok abduction occurred on the same day as a bombing attack in Abuja in which at least 88 people died. The road leading to Chibok is frequently targeted due to the fact that there is little to no government protection for commuters for the village.Boko Haram was blamed for nearly 4,000 deaths in 2014.Training received from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has helped Boko Haram intensify its attacks.
Jonathan N.C. Hill of King’s College London has suggested that Boko Haram kidnapped these girls after coming increasingly under the influence of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and asserts that the group’s goal is to use girls and young women as sexual objects and as a means of intimidating the civilian population into compliance. Hill describes the attacks as similar to the kidnapping of girls in Algeria in the 1990s and early 2000s.
