SIR: Ruminating on the state of the nation, and the thought that President Jonathan will hand over power to Muhammad Buhari in about 24 hours from now crossed my mind. Then again, I remember that it is already 409 days today since over 200 schoolgirls were abducted from a secondary school in Chibok, Borno State, by the members of Boko Haram terrorists group and they are yet to be handed over to their respective parents. Also, it is another Children’s Day. I thought of the ‘pains’ the ‘free Nigerians’ are going through at the moment – fuel scarcity, electricity shutdown and more and again I tried to imagine the agony the girls will be going through in the hands of their abductors.
President Goodluck Jonathan had in the past made series of public statements assuring that his government will do everything necessary to ensure that the kidnapped Chibok girls are rescued. It is already 24 hours to the handing over date; yet, the whereabouts of the Chibok girls is still elusive.
Though our soldiers have recorded some successes in rescuing a group of women and girls, however, what could have been a perfect complement/icing on the cake for the May 29 handing over ceremony is being able to rescue these girls and hand them over to their parents. But except for a miracle, this is not likely to happen with the President Jonathan’s government.
The question then is who will hand over the Chibok Girls back to their parents and when? It is another Children’s Day celebration again, making it the second that the girls are spending in the camp of their abductors. Since the government of President Jonathan has failed to rescue these girls, the onus is therefore on the incoming government of Muhammad Buhari to ensure that the mystery around the whereabouts of the Chibok girls is unravelled; the girls rescued and handed over to their parents.
The Secretary of Borno Elders Forum, Dr Gubio Bulama, on Tuesday said there was general suspicion that Boko Haram insurgents were hiding abducted Chibok girls in bunkers in Sambisa forest.
Bulama stated this while presenting a paper at a Post-2015 Election Conference organised by the Savanah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Democracy in Abuja.
He said that the genuine fear in Borno was that the insurgents had built bunkers in the vast forest, where they may be hiding the girls.
He urged the military to view that possibility with seriousness in its ongoing assault on the insurgents in that enclave.
He said, “the genuine fear which needs to be viewed seriously is whether bunkers might have been built within the vast forest.
“It should not be forgotten that at the initial stage, the insurgents were able to build bunkers large enough to accommodate up to 500 people right inside Maiduguri, at Bulabulin Ngarannan Ward.
“If they were able to do that in Maiduguri, when they find themselves in the forest without any disturbance, they can build bunkers and this is our genuine fear.
“We are calling on the military to look into the possibility of the Boko Haram having serious bunkers, and we are even suspecting that the Chibok girls are living in bunkers.’’
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that no fewer than 219 girls were abducted from the Government Girls’ Secondary School in Chibok, Borno, on April 14, 2014.
The military had confirmed that none of the girls was among the hundreds of female hostages recently rescued from Boko Haram’s stronghold in the past few weeks.
Bulama said it was unfortunate that the insurgents were allowed to occupy the forest for a long time, which provided them the opportunity to study and master its entire terrain.
He added that the terrorists were also known to have dug tunnels to enable them move from house to house.
“So, having been left unchallenged for such a long time, such possibilities cannot be ruled out, and this poses serious obstacles within the forest.
“The insurgents use their bases in the Sambisa forest to launch deadly attacks and make quick retreat to their base.
“This enabled them to capture and take over control of local government areas bordering Nigeria and Cameroun, Chad and Niger,’’ he said.
The Borno elder said that Boko Haram almost succeeded in achieving their aim of encircling Maiduguri, the Borno capital, by cutting it off from all direction.
According to him, they were within 20 kilometres to Maiduguri from all directions except the Maiduguri-Kano axis, “which they infested and unleashed horrendous ambushes from time to time’’.
He insisted that the Federal Government must first defeat Boko Haram by totally recapturing the forest from them before embarking on reconstruction and rehabilitation of the North-East.
Members of the #BringBackOurGirls advocacy have demanded that President Goodluck Jonathan offer a full apology to the group and Nigerians for denying the abduction of the Chibok girls and attacking the group.
They said the group and Nigerians will never forgive him if he does not apologise for the part he played in ensuring the girls remained in captivity for over a year.
A member of the group Mr. Chude Jideonwo stated this on Thursday in Abuja, during the group’s symposium marking, one year of advocating for the abducted Chibok girls’ release.
He said, “We demand an apology from President Jonathan for not only denying the disappearance of these girls but for attacking innocent citizens who stood up to demand that he must do his job.
“He owes every single citizen of this country an apology or we will never forgive him.”
Another member of the group, Dr. Allen Mannanseh, said the Chibok community and parents of the girls are demanding for full disclosure on the rescue mission.
He said the family and friends of the girls want disclosure, they want to know what happened to the girls or where they are so that they can stop mourning and that the community demands for the prosecution of everyone involved in deceiving Nigerians on the ceasefire deal.
His words, “We want a full disclosure from the present government on what it has done to rescue our girls, we want complete accountability of reports on the rescue operation from the government. They told us that the 200 girls recently rescued are not our girls and that they have been combing villages around Sambisa and asking the villagers if they saw our girls.
“All we want from them is disclosure and not how many villages they have combed. I spoke to the escapee girls today and they told me that they are tired of mourning for their friends for over a year, they said that they want disclosure, they want to know if the girls are still alive and will return or not so that they can move on with their life.
“We are also demanding that all those people involved in deceiving us and Nigerians on the alleged ceasefire deal be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
TUESDAY’s rescue of 200 girls and 93 women by the military in Sambisa Forest buoyed their hope of being reunited with their daughters, who were abducted over a year ago by Boko Haram insurgents.
On hearing the news, their faces lit up in smiles; but their joy was short-lived.
When they learnt that the Chibok girls were not among the rescued, they were crestfallen.
They became traumatised again and their blood pressure rose.
Mrs Hanatu Dauda and Mary Musa appeared shattered when The Nation met with them in Lagos on Tuesday.
They were in town for “urgent medical intervention” through Gabasawa Women & Children Initiatives (GWCI), a non-governmental organisation, assisted by Macedonia Initiative (MI), a global humanitarian body.
Among other ailments, they had been battling with are anaemia and ulcer, our reporter learnt.
But they have been getting succour from GWCI and MI since their ordeal began.
“Since late in the evening yesterday (Tuesday) when the Army broke the news, (rescue of 200 girls and 93 women), they prayed till after 2am today (yesterday). Now, they both earnestly wish their children are among the lucky ones; this is why they have remained fervent in prayers,” said GWCI President, Mrs Doris Yaro.
Mrs Musa, 45, whose 17-year-old daughter, Hauwa, was abducted with 275 others from the Government Girls Secondary School (Girls) in Chibok, Borno State on April 14, last year, expressed confidence that she would one day reunite with her.
“When I got the news from the Army, it only reinforced the belief I have in God that one day, I would see my daughter again. I see her in my dreams very often. My daughter is industrious. She would encourage me on my farming business and always discuss how she would key into the system later to make me and her father proud of the promising child she is,” she said.
Mrs Musa added: “We live in Mbalala where over 30 girls were kidnapped; transport costs N500 from there to Chibok. There are other towns including Mblabam, Sikakura, Leho, Gatamwawa, Kautikari, Ndnaga, Payesu, Payampu, Peyimi, Ngadarma, Kupubula, Jajal and Nglang. All were invaded, but people only talk about Chibok because it is the headquarters of the local government.”
As she shook her head and fought tears, the reporter asked: “Why madam? Why?”
She answered: “It is sad that one percent of the brutalisation meted out to us in the towns is not open to the public. For over one year now, were have seen hell. Our homes and farmlands were burnt; we sleep in the bush in fear with nothing to eat, added to the pains of losing our beloved children. For long now, my husband has been bedridden without any medical care. Is this life?”
She praised Mrs Yaro for “immeasurable constant love and compassion”, saying beside that no other help had come their way. They have also not been invited to Abuja for any help, she added.
“It is painful when you see fraudsters flooding Abuja to collect money on our behalf without reaching out to us at the end of the day. God is watching them. We had thought that the government and its agencies would have come up with palliatives like health facilities, food and such other things to give us relief. We have seen nothing except to hear that some people have been collecting things on our behalf in the name of “Bring back our girls” campaign. Now, I don’t even need anything from the government; all I need is to have my daughter alive,” she fumed.
Despite her plight, Mrs Musa is still moved by the story of Mrs Dauda whose daughter, Saratu, is also in captivity. One of her sons was “callously shot” and another daughter was raped and put in the family way.
Recalling her last moments with Saratu, Mrs Dauda said: “Even while the insurgency was raging, she would always urge me to pray for her to be successful in life. Her dream is to become an ‘accomplished fashion designer’ after her education; that is why she would always encourage me on my farming so that I could procure her a sewing machine. For over a year now, the dream has been cut short.
“We have remained useless for that long. Hunger has been biting hard. My other children cannot go to school. No light, no water, it has been untold suffering on all fronts. All we do is cry everyday with no relief in sight. And bad enough, government has disappointed us as it has done nothing to give us hope. Apart from urging the government to find us our daughters, we are tired of empty talks without action.”
Nigerian Troops have reportedly rescued about 200 girls from Sambisa forest, the Boko Haram’s den.
During the operation on Tuesday, about another 93 women were reportedly rescued from the den of the terrorists, also carried out attacks in some other parts of the Northeastern states.
Confirming the success of the operation, Major General Chris Olukolade, Director Defence Information, said he could not confirm the identity of the freed victims and their origins.
He also maintained that he could not state if any of them was among the missing Chibok girls until after thorough screening and proper investigations have been conducted.
“I can only confirm the rescued this afternoon of 200 girls and 93 women in different camps in the forest. We are yet to determine their origin as all the freed persons are now being screened and profiled. Please don’t misquote me on their origin. We will provide more details later,” he said.
It would be recalled that another set of soldiers were said to have arrived Sambisa Forest in Borno State as part of the ongoing military bombardment on the Boko Haram militants.
The soldiers were sighted at the Kaduna international airport tarmac.
However, as at the time of departure, some of the soldiers who spoke to our correspondent, said they were not given adequate weapons for the operation, while others claimed they were made to sign forms that they collected N90,000 against the N30,000 they were actually paid.
They said, “We are going to Sambisa forest in Borno State for peace operation, I just hope they (military authorities) will give us the adequate weapons we need to fight the insurgents so that we can be reunited with our loved ones.”
However, when our correspondent was leaving the airport, three trucks suspected to be carrying arms for the soldiers were driven into the tarmac.
The trucks sandwiched by pick-up vans, occupied by gun wielding and stern looking mobile policemen were painted in Nigerian Air Force colour.
When contacted on the soldiers’ allegations, the Defence Spokesman, Major- Gen. Chris Olukolade, denied that the soldiers were not given their due entitlements.
Olukolade, who responded to text message sent to him by our correspondent, said, “No one who does his duty properly in this mission has been or will be denied his entitlement.”
Members of the #BringBackOurGirls advocacy group have demanded that the National Security Adviser (NSA) to the President, Col. Sambo Dasuki, should provide to the public and parents the “absolute truth” on efforts to rescue the Chibok girls.
The group, which said this yesterday at a news conference in Abuja, demanded that the authorities provide evidence, beyond the usual statements, that it was “factually working to locate and rescue the girls”.
They asked that the NSA begin a weekly update on progress being made by the rescue operation since his April 14, 2015 declaration, where he assured Nigerians that the girls and other victims abducted by Boko Haram would be rescued before handover.
In the statement by former Minister of Education Oby Ezekwesili and Hadiza Bala-Usman, the group promised to begin another monitoring initiative anchored on the NSA’s assurance.
The group said:”We continue with the strong hope by holding the NSA to his promise by launching this citizens’ monitoring tool to enable us to actively follow and track developments as reported by verifiable media sources on the latest rescue mission publicly announced. The #BBOGCountdownToMay29 is therefore a vigilance tool which places a searchlight on the counterinsurgency/rescue operations as conveyed by the NSA. We shall collate all relevant information, organise, analyse and disseminate the most important information over the five-week period leading to the May 29, 2015. Specifically, our tool will seek to know and report on the following:
“We assert that by the assured and specific statement of April 14, 2015, by the NSA, the tentativeness of the president’s assurance on the rescue of our girls nearly one month later has given way to exactitude. For this, therefore, we demand full accountability by the NSA. This is because, we do not want this declaration to join one of the many contradictions that have bedevilled the communication by government on the counterinsurgency operation.
“We are extremely worried that the public is not being told the whole truth of efforts to rescue our girls. We, therefore, ask that as part of the recent efforts, the NSA should ensure that the military and Federal Government presents the Nigerian public, especially the parents of our Chibok girls with the truth; the absolute truth and nothing but the truth on the real situation.
“We want the answer to our main concern and key issue: Where are our Chibok girls? We demand evidence that our authorities are beyond the usual statements; factually working to both locate and rescue our 219 girls. We want the NSA to commence a weekly update on progress being made by the rescue operation since his April 14, 2015 declaration.
“The most heartwarming news of the week under review was the announcement by the Kano State Government that it has established a Boarding School for vulnerable children from Borno State, who were orphaned by Boko Haram. Such exemplary gesture by the governor should be lauded and emulated by other people in our society. Our advocacy is founded on the maxim that ‘all children are our children’. We urge more public spirited individuals and organisations to demonstrate similar kindness to vulnerable people of the Northeast.
“We wish to see a similar proactive response by the Governor of Borno who has primary responsibility to ensure that out-of-school-children-syndrome does not worsen in his state. We, therefore, demand that Governor Kashim Shettima immediately makes alternative schooling arrangements for several Borno school children who have been out of school for more than two years since security deteriorated in his state.
“April 30, 2015, marks one year of our movement’s daily advocacy for the rescue and safe return of our missing Chibok girls, (and an end to the insurgency) through our street protests and signature “Daily Sit Outs at the Unity Fountain. We have planned a public lecture themed: “Chibok Girls: Crying to Be Rescued” to be delivered by His Eminence John Cardinal Onaiyekan, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja.
“This commemorative lecture shall hold at 10.00 AM at the ThisDay Dome, with a live broadcast on Arise TV.”
Agroup, Lawyers for Change, has urged the president-elect General Muhamadu Buhari to make the rescue of the kidnapped Chibok school girls a priority.
Its National Coordinator, Mr. Adesina Ogunlana, at a briefing in Ikeja, said the girls’ freedom was paramount.
He said they disagreed with statement allegedly made by the President-elect that he could no longer guarantee the freedom of the girls.
Ogunlana urged Buhari to live up to his earlier campaign promise of finding the girls.
He stressed that Buhari’s comments after the general elections contradicted the promise he made prior to the elections adding that this was not acceptable to them.
The girls were seized on April 14, last year from their school’s dormitory while they were preparing for their school certificate exams.
He said: “What he said now is at variance with his promise. Chibok girls must be rescued, they must be found.”
The group also admonished the newly elected, at both the national and state (Lagos) level, not to bask in the euphoria of past glory, but to endeavour to create the much awaited change Nigerians have been craving for.
According to him, to adequately address and curb the issue of corruption, there must be a project tagged ‘real retooling of the national economy’.
“Misappropriation of government funds must end. To serve as a deterrent yo others, wealth corruptly acquired should be relinquished. Our country must change and be changed.
“Life in Nigeria must not remain the same. What the people elected in is change, and change they will get, change not just transition,” he added.
Ogunlana also commended Nigerians for electing Buhari/Osinbajo who he described as real agents OD change and promised to ensure that his group will continue to be a watchdog on the incoming administration.
He said, “we will be the conscientious critics of the people voted into power. Our leaders must become lean so that our people can become fat. The only thing our leaders must deliver is nothing but change.”
The National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) has described as tragic the inability of the Nigerian military with assistance from neighbouring countries to rescue the missing Chibok girls.
The NCWS said “it is widely feared that they are not only being used as human shields during the ongoing military onslaught but also married off”.
A statement by its Lagos chapter President, Mrs Iyabo Osifeso, said it was sad that the girls had spent an entire year away from their families, just because they wanted to learn.
Mrs Osifeso said: “This has been a devastating year for schoolchildren in the North Eastern part of the country. We condemn the terrorist group’s atrocities, including abduction and use of children for suicide bombings.
“As mothers, our hearts beat with sorrow the precarious state the girls must have found themselves for a whole 365 days in the wilderness.
“We are equally worried how hundreds of thousands of children have been displaced from their homes and deprived of their rights to live and grow up in safety, dignity and peace. It is unfortunate that majority of those displaced are children and these children are out of school.”
The body reiterated the need for government to address the issue with urgency.
“It is high time government changed its tactics in engaging the insurgents. Trillions of naira expended on security must be accounted for. The issue of intelligence gathering among the various security operatives must be totally overhauled with the mindset of injecting fresh ideas that would make our security agents stand shoulder to shoulder with their counterparts in developed countries,” she said.
THE Federal Government yesterday said it will not relent until the over 200 abducted Chibok girls are released and united with their families.
The Coordinator of the National Information Centre (NIC), Mike Omeri, said this during the weekly security briefing in Abuja.
He said the government will continue in its war against terrorism and ensure the safe return of the abducted girls.
His words: “On April 14, 2014, the nation woke up to the tragic incident of the first Nyanya bombing and the abduction of over 200 students of the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok by the Boko Haram terrorists.
“April 14th marked one year of the horrific occurrences, which were a tragedy and an experience that every Nigerian painfully shares alongside the immediate families of the victims, the people of Chibok and the international community.
“The Federal Government remains resolute in finding and returning them to their homes where they rightly belong. Consequently, we will continue to exert all efforts in ensuring their safe return.”
He stated that the security agencies had in recent months made progress in their counter-terrorism efforts with the arrest and prosecution of the suspects of the Nyanya bombings as well as the liberation of 40 communities from the control of Boko Haram.
Omeri noted that “presently, the military is moving into the Sambisa forest after taking Alagarno, Gwoza, Bama, Malam Fatori, Abadam, among others”.
He added: “The fortification of the border routes by other members of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) has also played a key role in these successes.
“Our intelligence indicates that the present military operation is focused in the area, where the girls are believed to be held.”
On the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), the NIC coordinator said the government was committed to returning and resettling people from the affected communities as soon as possible.
It was one year on Tuesday that over 200 Chibok school girls were abducted. Some managed to escape and are back in school on scholarship. But, their hearts bleed for their colleagues, who are still in captivity, reports KOFOWOROLA BELO-OSAGIE.
The nation is yet to recover from the trauma of the abduction of about 276 pupils of the Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS) in Chibok, Borno State, by Boko Haram insurgents on April 14, last year. Fifty-seven managed to escape, but there has been no news of the others since then. The government just keeps promising that they would be rescued. When will that be?
That is the big question because it was one year last Tuesday that the girls were abducted.
A report by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) titled: “Missing childhoods: The impact of armed conflict on children in Nigeria and beyond, released on Monday, noted that the insurgency, which has deliberately targeted students and teachers, led to the destruction of more than 300 schools and the killing of 196 teachers and 314 school children between January 2012 and last December.
• The Burnt Chibok school building – AFP. Inset: inside one of the burnt buildings Washington Post
The kidnap of the Chibok girls attracted global attention which forced the Federal Government to mount a military assault to rescue them. But, so far, the girls have not been found.
For many, it is disappointing that the government has been unable to rescue the girls. Those who escaped are enjoying a new lease of life.
GGSS Principal Hajiya Asabe Ali Kwambula told The Nation on phone that she is in touch with 54 of the 57 escaped girls who are now studying on scholarship.
“I am in touch with 54 of the girls that escaped. The girls I am in touch with are doing fine. Forty-one of them are in the same school; and 13 are in other schools. I am in touch with especially those the state government sent to school because I used to visit them in their schools; and they also visit me at my home before travelling to Chibok,” she said.
President of the American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola Dr Margee Ensign says 21 of the girls are in the school.
In an interview in Lagos, she said the girls were being prepared for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), which began last week. She said compared to when they arrived in the school – during which they could not speak English – they have made tremendous progress that impresses her. Had they written the examination last year if they had not been kidnapped, she said, they would not have passed. But the reverse is the case today.
“Seriously, they are example of what a great education can be. Twenty-one of them are making progress. They are making major gains academically… A few of them didn’t speak much English, but now they can speak, they can write, they can read, they are doing their maths, they are in different levels. As we prepare all of them for JAMB, WAEC, they will all take them this year, because we don’t want any of them not to succeed,” she said.
Additional information on the AUN website showed that the girls are undergoing individualised academic programmes in three groups (advanced, intermediate and beginner). They study from 9am-5 pm. For some of them, it would take two years of remedial studies (estimated at $5,000 per year) to prepare for the Ordinary level and entrance examinations before they are admitted for degree programmes at AUN.
If they pass, they would be admitted into AUN for programmes of their choice. Dr Ensign said many foreign universities have offered them places – even for postgraduate studies.
•Dr Ensign
She said: “A University in Canada has just come forward to say when you finish with them we will take them for free for graduate studies which is really exciting. That is the next phase. There is a lineup of universities around the world that would take them.”
The girls, she said, have blossomed and now have big ambitions, particularly to develop their community after their education.
She said: “They are doing intensive English, maths science, social studies. But when you ask them what they are going to study it is medicine, dentistry law, they have got very big dreams. What was most extra ordinary when we asked them: ‘Where do you want to be?’ ‘What are your dreams?’ they say: ‘I want to be a doctor so that I can go back to Chibok and take care of the health care for them;’ ‘I want to be a teacher so that I can go back and make sure Chibok comes back.’ So this is exactly what we hope for our students, we give them education and you go back and give to the society.”
To feel the pulse of the girls one year after the kidnap, The Nation requested to interview the girls by email. The response that came noted that when Dr Ensign asked the girls to write what education means to them, 17-year-old Mary (not full name), wrote that their experience at AUN was a superior advantage which they feel guilty about, especially because their peers are still in captivity.
“It is hard to explain what it is like to be taken captive as we were and as many of our friends still are. We feel sad even with the advantages we now have because so many from our hometown do not have these advantages. We are determined to use this good education we are getting and then go home and improve Chibok. When the insurgency struck, I was devastated, but little did I know it was going to be a blessing in disguise. I want more now. I have great plans for myself, my family, Chibok town, and my country and I will not give up on those dreams,” she said.
Nineteen-year old Sarah says the abduction has been a blessing in disguise which she believes would benefit her hometown in the long run.
“It has been a horrible journey yet we believe that coming to AUN is for a purpose, which is to be an instrument of positive change in our hometown, where many have been victimized because of the insurgency in our country. My parents are farmers and their major source of income is based on what we harvest and sell on our farmland, yet Boko Haram chases people from the fields,” she said.
For another girl, Blessing, this experience has only ignited the vision of a bright future that the Boko Haram tried to kill in its campaign against western education. She said only quality education can make such future possible.
“Education is the only road forward for Nigeria. Nothing else is possible until that happens. At the American University of Nigeria (AUN) – where we are receiving a real education – we can perceive the bright and excellent future we have ahead of us. It was not always that way,” said Blessing.
Their former principal, Hajiya Asabe, indeed agrees that education is important for their hometown to grow. She said the Chibok community is looking forward to the school being rebuilt, as promised by the Federal Government.
“The school is yet to be rebuilt; but on 6th March, the minister of finance went to Chibok to lay foundation for the school. We went together with the army when they awarded the contract to them. They said they will start it without delay. I am sure it is because of the election nothing has been happening so far.
“I know that if the school is rebuilt, all the students will be back in school. And everyone wants the school to be rebuilt because it is the only school in the local government. You know education is more important than wealth and if you educate girls, they can secure a better future,” she said.
She hopes that the new government would complete whatever is left of the project by the time Dr Goodluck Jonathan lives office and Gen Muhammadu Buhari takes over as President on May 29.
“Education is education – new government or old government – they all know the importance of education; and I believe that from where the former president stops, the new government will take off. I know that Gen Buhari will definitely act,” she said.
Even after one year, the principal has not given up on the 219 girls being found. She said intercessions have not stopped to the almighty for their rescue, and urged the Federal Government to do more to find them.
“Since the abduction, we have not heard anything about them. We do not know whether they are alive. There is nothing we can say rather than to pray for them wherever they are – that God will help them. But we are pleading with Federal Government to help us get them back and because they are the leaders of tomorrow,” she said.
Other Nigerians have not given up on the girls either. To mark the first year anniversary of the abduction, the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group, co-founded by former Minister of Educationl, Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili, did a series of activities, including getting 219 Chibok Girls Ambassadors – teenagers to march to the Federal Ministry of Education (FME) in Abuja to demand for the girls’ rescue on Tuesday. Wearing red t-shirts, each of them bore a board with the name of each of the missing girls.
The world’s youngest Nobel Laureate, Malala Yousafzai, also wrote a letter to the girls on Monday in which she said she had set up a fund for their education.
Urging them not to give up hope, she said: “I look forward to the day I can hug each one of you, pray with you and celebrate your freedom with your families. Until then, stay strong and never lose hope. You are my heroes.”
