Originally published on the CGS blog on October 23, 2014.
The Nigerian government has stated that it has finally secured the release of the more than 200 hundred girls abducted from a school in northeastern Nigeria. Days after this news surfaced, all that remains is confusion and doubt as to its validity.
On April 14, the Islamic militant group Boko Haram raided the Government Girls’ Secondary School in Chibok, kidnapping over 200 hundred pupils ages 16-18. Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is sin,” released statements claiming they planned to sell the girls into forced marriages.
News originally broke last Friday with the Nigerian military announcing that it had agreed to a ceasefire with Boko Haram and expected the release of the girls as early as Monday. Monday has come and gone, the girls have not been released, and Boko Haram’s leadership remains silent.
Despite the apparent ceasefire, reports have indicated that Boko Haram fighters carried out attacks over the weekend on two villages near the Niger border, killing at least eight.
The ceasefire is said to be the product of negotiations taking place in neighboring Chad, who was mediating the talks. The Nigerian government has come under heavy criticism for its response to the kidnapping, including reports that the government had advanced knowledge of the raid.
In the wake of the kidnapping and the delayed response by the news media, the campaign #BringBackOurGirls took social media by storm. Celebrities, world leaders, and citizens around the world joined together in calling for the release of the girls.
The media coverage died, and along with it, the cries for the girls’ release.
The news of the ceasefire agreement comes almost exactly six months after the kidnapping and not much more than a week after the discovery of video evidence of the Nigerian military committing atrocities in its fight against Boko Haram.
As the confusion and angst continues, the thoughts and prayers of the world’s citizens should be with the families of the kidnapped as they wait for the day they can be reunited with their girls. Most importantly, thoughts and prayers must be with the victims, the girls themselves.
As global citizens, we cannot let the campaign fade away to second pages and news ticker headlines. In a world where governments protect themselves with state sovereignty and intergovernmental organizations get delayed with red tape, the responsibility lies with us to keep these human rights violations, atrocities, and crimes against humanity in the headlines.
