Is anyone else as restless as we at #BringBackOurGirlsNYC are about the fate of our #ChibokGirls who have been in Boko Haram captivity for nearly 2 years? We are determined not to be bogged down by sadness, frustration and despair. We choose to believe that our girls can still be rescued. We are encouraged by the renewed media interest in covering this story because it reminds the world that our girls and thousands of others are captives held, traumatized, brutalized, tormented and abused by Boko Haram. We remind the world to rescue them and put an end to their brutalization.
#BringBackOurGirlsNYC has consistently called the world's attention to our #ChibokGirls continued captivity, particularly on milestone dates like April 14, the impending two-year mark. The tireless women volunteers on our planning committee are always vigilant, always sharing information and breaking news on our girls. Here's one example that gave a recap of last night's episode of
"Madam Secretary" on CBS:
"On the weekly CBS (NY channel 2) show "Madam Secretary", a New York-born State Dept. employee of Nigerian ancestry is sent to meet with an Amir in Camaroon, who turned out to be the "megalomaniac" head of Boko Haram there. The Amir thinks that the U.S. is weakening the policy of not negotiating with terrorists, but the State Dept. staffer explains that he is representing Irag, which is offering to exchange 5 Boko Haram prisoners for 106 Nigerian girls. The Amir calls in a girl and says that his response to the U.S. and Iraq is that he will send them the head of this girl in a bag. The American responds that gratuitous barbarity is "beneath the dignity of an Amir".
The girl then explains that she and the other girls will not leave their new husbands, who represent the true religion, and will die for the cause before leaving their husbands.
The State Dept. staffer then meets with the U.S. president's Chief of Staff to explain the failure of his mission and the attitude of the Amir. A small group of people is at this meeting, a non-governmental "Working Group" that has been working with U.S. government officials to get the girls back. The Chief of Staff assures them that the U.S. government remains committed to getting the girls back but that it is clear that negotiation is futile so the U.S. no longer will attempt to negotiate. He says that the Working Group and government officials will have to "think outside the box".
The State Dept. staffer collapses, and the story turns to an outbreak of a new virus in Cameroon and Nigeria, the Marburg, that Boko Haram blames on the government, so will not permit medical teams into affected areas where it claims that 'members of the true faith will not die.'
But it turns out that the Amir also is dying from the virus.
There only are 4 doses in the world of the antidote to the virus, so one is used to save the life of the State Dept. staffer. The Secretary of State begs the president to allow her to try to save the girls by unofficially negotiating with the Amir to save his life. The President doesn't want to save the life of any Boko Haram leader, particularly this one, who previously sent a dirty bomb to D.C. The Secretary tells the President to explain his rationale to the girls and to their parents, describing the girls as having been kidnapped and "enslaved". The special ingredient for the antidote is available in Africa.
The President agrees to permit the Secretary to convince the Cameroon ambassador to send a message to the Amir that the Cameroon government will negotiate with him, as a cover to the US plan to offer the Amir a dose of the antidote in return for allowing medical staff into affected areas and for returning all of the girls.
As the show ends, the girls are shown being greeted by their parents in an airport."
Another member also alerted the planning committee that the show was on.
CNN and BBC, are focusing on a 2 year retrospective. We see it as our job to keep reminding the powers that be to redouble efforts to rescue our #ChibokGirls and all others abducted by Boko Haram.
JOIN US ON APRIL 14
Here's #BringBackOurGirlsNYC's appeal: Please also tweet at President Buhari and VP Osinbajo, as well as Pres. Obama and Sec. of State Kerry, plus UN Secretary Gen Ban ki Moon. Below my tweets to them today:
@NGRPresident @ProfOsinbajo Please redouble efforts to rescue our #ChibokGirls April 14 will be 2yrs in BH captivity http://blogs.afp.com/correspondent/?post%2Fchibok-two-years-on
@POTUS #BringBackOurGirls. Please prioritize rescue of #ChibokGirls. Approx 2 yrs Boko Haram captivity. #HopeEndures http://news.trust.org/item/20160408173256-2jw7n
@realJohnKerry #BringBackOurGirls. Please prioritize rescue of #ChibokGirls. Approx 2 yrs in Boko Haram captivity. http://news.trust.org/item/20160408173256-2jw7n
@secgen #BringBackOurGirls. Please prioritize rescue of our ChibokGirls. April 14 = 2 years in Boko Haram captivity. http://news.trust.org/item/20160408173256-2jw7n
My people, can you tweet these things and ask your friends to do likewise?
Another #BBOGNYC stalwart on FB drew attention to the fact that the US Democratic Party's New York City debate between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders is happening on April 14, which is the 2-year mark of our #ChibokGirls abduction by Boko Haram. We should remind the two candidates that our girls remain missing. Both candidates are loving grandparents. Both campaigns have flooded my mailbox with all kinds of solicitation and invitations. I will just keep responding to them with our "What you can do" demands and ask them to say what they're doing to help rescue our #ChibokGirls and all others held captive by brutal Boko Haram.
Here are my tweets to both:
@HillaryClinton #BringBackOurGirls Pls prioritize rescue of #ChibokGirls. April 14 = 2 yrs in Boko Haram captivity. http://news.trust.org/item/20160408173256-2jw7n
@BernieSanders #BringBackOurGirls Pls prioritize rescue of #ChibokGirls. April 14 = 2 yrs in Boko Haram captivity. http://news.trust.org/item/20160408173256-2jw7n
Please also ask Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders to work on rescuing our #ChibokGirls however they can.
Here are other things you can do to help
Listen to Angelique Kidjo, who's right on point about the origins and perpetuation of Boko Haram violence, and the importance of educating our girls in the African continent:
Angelique Kidjo: Educating Africa’s girls
