Monday 5 May 2014

Bring Back Our Girls - Missing Nigerian Chibok School Girls

Who says there is no power in using Social media to fight a cause that affects every human being, that has a heart, on this planet! #BringBackOurGirls has gone viral. And I keep on praying every minute that these innocent & helpless missing Chibok girls are found soon.

On the 15th April 2014, Boko Haram terrorists burst into Government Girls Secondary School in ChibokBorno State, Nigeria. In the middle of the night they set blaze to the boarding school for girls it & fired gunshots. Over 250 terrified girls ran out and were abducted by this heartless group & carted off in lorries to an unknown destination. 

Boko Haram in Hausa language means 'Western education is a sin' in English. I can't even begin to speculate what might have happened to these girls since.

The media reports in Nigeria are sketchy as it's claimed some of the girls escaped - exact numbers not known. Friends & families of the girls have been in pain wondering what has happened to the girls, where are they? what have they done to them? when are they going to be released? The unanswered questions go on and on!


Thanks to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, You tube, Tumblr & other social media platforms, the whole world is now paying attention to the missing Chibok Girls as the Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan & his government weren't doing anything. Am sorry but that is so shameful.

For a Nigerian living in the Diaspora, one feels so helpless as to make any ounce of a difference. My way, atleast,  is by using the Internet which has given me a voice. 

There have now been rallies in Abuja, Lagos & other cities within Nigeria. Thanks to #BringBackOurGirls going viral, the Global community has joined in. There was a rally outside the Nigerian High Commission yesterday, 4th May 2014. There have been similar demonstrations / rallies in Atlanta, Houston, New York and so on.


There's an old Nigerian proverb that says "It takes a village to raise a child". Thank God we have a global village, doing their thing, one way or another in finding these missing school girls.

I found this image very moving, tears were rolling down my cheeks, seeing another mother wailing in agony over the school girls.  


Here's one of the many viral videos highlighting the Chibok girls abduction. 


And one of the many international news report by BBC World Africa.

Also there is an online petition putting pressure on the Nigerian Government to act swiftly in the interest of these innocent girls. I've done my bit, please do yours. Here's the link Bring Back Our Girls Online Petition

This is a fundamental human rights issue - Girls (as well as boys) have a basic human right to receive a formal education. 
#BRINGBACKOURGIRLS

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