#BringBackOurGirls: Five Years Later

It’s been over five years since Boko Haram, the insurgent group that has terrorized Nigerians in the Northeast and neighboring countries, including Cameroon, Niger, and Chad, attacked the Government Girl Secondary School in Chibok, Nigeria. Disguised as guards, Boko Haram stormed the school on April 14, 2014,  and abducted two hundred and seventy-six girls. These girls were abducted as a tactic by Boko Haram to advance their extreme Islamic ideals. 

Although half of the girls were released, and some escaped, one hundred and twelve Chibok girls are still being held captive by Boko Haram. Their whereabouts are unknown. There is no information about their well-being and no information on whether they will ever be released. No known progress has been made to advance their release, and their families and communities are still left with unanswered questions. They hope that the girls will return.

When BringBackOurGirls, the group founded by Nigerian women and men to demand the Chibok girls’ rescue, became a hashtag, it developed from a movement supported by international media and celebrities. Many offered their help in bringing national attention to the issue but became distracted. The support and attention died down but 112 of the Chibok schoolgirls remain in captivity and there is little real improvement in the vulnerability that people, especially children, and women, face in northeastern Nigeria. The global community and media seemingly moved on to the next big story while the villages and communities affected by Boko Haram were left without aid. 

Women and children are usually most vulnerable during wars and conflicts. Used as tactical tools, and dispensable weapons of war. This is self-evident in Nigeria where women and children are left at the mercy of Boko Haram. The lack of global attention allows Boko Haram to continue to abduct, and for the insurgents and others to sexually traffic young women without consequence. The insurgency has separated mothers from their children, and wives from their husbands, and it allows Boko Haram to force young boys into becoming soldiers. 

The negligence and media blackout of the war crimes being committed by Boko Haram, and the Nigerian Government in its war against Boko Haram, allows them to exploit the most vulnerable. 

Today Boko Haram is still active, and is still raiding villages, and killing civilians. More women and girls are being abducted and killed. The last of three humanitarian workers abducted like Alice Ngaddah (the two others, Hauwa Mohammed Liman and Saifura Hussaini Ahmed Khorsa were assassinated by Boko Haram) and Leah Sharibu, the last of the schoolgirls abducted from Dapchi. Boko Haram is roaming freely throughout Northeastern Nigeria. It is heavily armed with sophisticated weapons and vehicles. The military has not been able to defeat the insurgents. Boko Haram has now excelled in the use of some of the girls they’ve abducted as suicide bombers and sex slaves. More than half of their suicide bombers have been young girls that have gone missing from their villages. Boko Haram is using these girls in surprise attacks. This escalates the use of abducted girls as tools of violence. These young girls and women are not strategic weapons used in times of war. They deserve human security and agency.

#BringBackOurGirls is a movement that is alive and well. It should be embraced once again by the global community. The women and children affected by Boko Haram deserve media attention, and an end to the war directly affecting them. They deserve justice for the war crimes committed against them.