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CHIBOK MISSING GIRLS: Protest spreads to US, UK and Canada

OUTRAGE and condemnation have continued to trail the sudden disappearance of 234 school girls in Chibok, Borno State.  The outrage is spreading to places around the world.  On Monday, April 14, 2014, school girls aged between 15 and 18 numbering 234 were whisked away by people suspected to be Boko Haram militants in Girls Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State and 29 days after, their whereabouts could not be established by Nigeria’s security agencies.

Fears grow as allegation of giving out the girls as wives to militants for N2,000 (£8) each continued to spread.  Initial efforts made by parents of the abducted girls to mount a search in Sambisa forest which borders Chibok town met a brickwall as they were forced to beat a retreat because they had no weapon to confront the insurgents and free their children.  The only available option was to stage a protest to government quarters which is now spreading fast across the world.

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW

There are fears the girls may still be in Sambisa forest where they were moved to which was why the borders close to the place were cordoned and fortified.  As the search continues, some girls who escaped from the assailants recapped experiences inside the Sambisa forest.

 

THE DIFFICULTY OF GETTING THE GIRLS OUT

Rescue operation has been hampered by many challenges, part of which is intelligence gathering.  The security operatives complain of lack of information by natives.  Also going by the terrain of Sambisa forest, only a sophisticated and well equipped operation can succeed in that forest.  But for now, the military power deployed to that area are just doing serious coordination to rescue the girls.  Another factor is that the militants may be using these girls as shield, and caution needs to be applied to get those girls back home alive.

 

FRESH RESCUE MOBILIZATION TEAM

On Friday, May 2, 2014, following outrage from around the world, the Nigerian military renewed their onslaught against the terrorists.  There was fresh rescue mobilization team deployed into Sambisa forest.  There were signal corps, armoured corps, infantry corps, artillery corps, military police corps, medical corps, fighter jets, police surveillance helicopters, counter terrorists units and anti bomb discovery units.

 

THE ACTUAL FIGURE OF CAPTIVES AND THOSE WHO ESCAPED

About 530 students from Chibok and neighbouring towns sat for the examinations.  234 were abducted and so far 39 have returned home after they escaped from their abductors.  That means 195 are still missing.

 

INSIDE SAMBISA FOREST

The Sambisa forest is identified as the hot bed of the Boko Haram militants.  It is in South Borno State and has features such as thick forest, swampy condition.  During rainy season, there are makeshift camps occupied by the Boko Haram sect in Sambisa.  The region shares borders with Chibok, Askira Uba, Damboa, Gwoza, Kandinga, Dikoa local government areas.

Sambisa forest has an area of approximately 518 square kilometers.  It is said to harbor population of wildlife such as monkeys, antelopes, lions, elephants as well as birds.

 

PROTESTS SPREAD ACROSS THE WORLD

Outrage, protests are the order of the day around the world criticizing the Nigerian government for not showing enough concern to the plight of the abducted school girls and their parents.

Abuja, the Federal Capital city was grounded on Wednesday, April 30, 2014 with ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ protests taking over major roads.  The crowd led by former Minister of Education, Mrs. Obi Ezekwesili defied the heavy rain to register their grievances.

The next day, May 1, 2014, concerned mothers and activists stormed the government house in Maiduguri, Borno State to register their displeasure over government slow action towards rescuing the girls.  The same day women lawyers and others gathered at Murtala Muhammed Square, Kaduna with placards to drive home their own frustration.

In Lagos, protesters led by Seun Anikulapo-Kuti clashed with policemen in Marina, Lagos on Thursday, May 1, 2014.

Protesters are mobilizing themselves in Toronto, Canada and Atlanta, Georgia, USA for their own march against the abduction of school girls in Chibok, Borno State, just as the Coalition of Nigerian Apostolic Leaders led by Pastor Wale Adefarasin have come out to condemn the continued disappearance of the girls.

Another protest was staged on Sunday, May 4, 2014, at the Nigerian High Commission office in London.

 

NIGERIANS BLAST KEMA CHIKWE OVER CHIBOK 234 COMMENT

Just as outrage and anger over the missing 234 Chibok girls grew, a section of Nigerians who doubted the kidnapping of the girls have surfaced.  They argued that if truly the girls are missing, the school where they wrote the West African Examination Council (WAEC), should provide statistical data of the missing persons and that there are no witnesses who can give account of how the girls were moved out of the school premises.

On Wednesday, April 30, 2014, former Minister of Aviation and National Women Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. (Mrs.) Kema Chikwe was quoted as doubting the authenticity of the kidnap of the school girls.

“How did it happen?  Who saw it happen?  Who did not see it happen?  Who is behind this?” she was quoted during a party function in Abuja.  Immediately the statement surfaced online, Nigerians took to the social media and took the PDP chieftain to the cleaners.  She immediately released a statement on Thursday, May 1, 2014, insisting she was misquoted and that her statement was not meant to doubt the girls were actually missing.

–  FOLUSO SAMUEL

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