#BringBackOurGirlsNYC: #BringBackOurDaughters

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Tuesday, October 15, 2019

THE MISSED OPPORTUNITIES TO RESCUE THE CHIBOK GIRLS

October 11, 2019 – International Day of the Girl Child

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

+2348057799777 (Abuja); +2347087784788 (Lagos); +19175046204 (NY); +12022887866 (DC)

THE MISSED OPPORTUNITIES TO RESCUE THE CHIBOK GIRLS

Saturday, October 5, 2019 marked 2,000 Days since 276 schoolgirls were abducted from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State by Boko Haram.

§ 57 girls escaped in the first 24 hours.

§ In the last 5 years, 107 of the 219 girls held captive either escaped; were released after negotiations; or were found after the army liberated the areas where they were being held.

§ To date, 112 Chibok Girls remain captives of the terrorists.

The Bring Back Our Girls movement decided to meet daily at the Unity Fountain in Abuja after the first protest on April 30^th because we believed we needed to put consistent pressure on the President Goodluck Jonathan government to find and rescue the Chibok Girls. Our initial engagements and responses received had clearly indicated that the abduction was not taken seriously.

Our perception was confirmed in the investigative piece published by the Wall Street Journal in December 2017. Some excerpts from the article:

“To the surprise of Obama’s Africa team, the abduction of an entire student body barely registered in the press at home or abroad. In Nigeria, the reaction was muffled by military leaders who informed their president the kidnapping seemed to be a hoax.

‘We knew this was going to be big,’ said Grant T. Harris, Obama’s Africa director. “But it was initially met with a deafening silence.’”

“The first lady’s photo (May 7) would front nearly every Nigerian newspaper, blindsiding President Goodluck Jonathan, whose military still suspected the kidnapping had never happened. Facing an unprecedented form of public pressure from his most powerful ally, Jonathan had few options. He accepted the White House’s request to launch a rescue effort.”

“’We gave them a hammer, but they never picked it up,’ an American officer said. ‘There wasn’t enough political will.’”

“The #BringBackOurGirls campaign had made Nigeria a magnet for reward chasers and have-a-go heroes. The government fuelled the chaos by paying millions of dollars for information that led nowhere. Reuben Abati, President Jonathan’s spokesman at the time, acknowledged the search became a gold rush. ‘There were too many actors working at cross-purposes,’ he said.”

In his memoir, For the Record, former UK Prime Minister David Cameron wrote that at the time of the abduction, British troops traced the location of some of the girls and offered to help, but former President Goodluck Jonathan refused. Even though Mr Cameron’s book was published on September 19, 2019, this part of the book was highlighted as family, friends and concerned citizens painfully marked 2,000 Days of the abduction.

In his words, “As ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ campaign spread across the world, we embedded a team of military and intelligence experts in Nigeria and sent spy planes and Tornadoes with thermal imaging to search for the missing girls. And, amazingly, from the skies above a forest three times the size of Wales, we managed to locate some of them. … But Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, seemed to be asleep at the wheel. When he eventually made a statement, it was to accuse the campaigners of politicizing the tragedy. And absolutely crucially, when we offered to help rescue the girls we had located, he refused.”

However, in a swift response, former President Jonathan issued a statement asserting that Mr Cameron’s claims are inaccurate. He says, “In his book, Mr. Cameron failed to mention that I wrote him requesting his help on Chibok. Why did he suppress that information? I remind him that copies of that letter exist at the State Houses in Nigeria and London. He never called me on the phone to offer any help. On the contrary, I am the one that reached out to him.”

He also stated, “I also authorized the secret deployment of troops from the United Kingdom, the United States and Israel as a result of the Chibok incident, so how Mr. Cameron could say this with a straight face beats me.”

A Nigeria Senator at the time of the abduction has also supported Mr Cameron, stating that his interaction with President Jonathan in the company of nine other Senators and senior government officials showed clearly that the abduction was not being taken seriously. In his words, “…We met him at the First Lady’s meeting room. His service chiefs, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Inspector General of Police (IGP), Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) were also there. Pius Anyim, the then SGF. President Jonathan made us believe all through the meeting that the Chibok story was not real. It was staged. That it was politics. He tried very hard to convince us. This was his mindset and he made no apologies about it.”

Our perceptions, the Wall Street Journal article, a serving Senator’s recollections, that have not been debunked, clearly support Mr Cameron’s assertions.

In describing the fate of the Chibok Girls, Mr Cameron said, “Some of the girls have managed to escape over the following four years, and others have been released, but over a hundred are still missing. Once again. the combination of Islamist extremism and bad governance proved fatal.”

The deadly combination of bad governance and terrorism has been at the heart of our cry to Bring Back Our Girls for over five years because if the government’s disposition to security and human dignity is not reprogrammed, our girls will not return and more of our children will continue to be abducted.

As a citizens-led movement, we are committed to reminding the government of the day of its constitutional responsibility to make the security and welfare of Nigerian citizens its priority. Today, our core demand remains the same, relevant today as it has been on each of the over 2,000 days we have turned up in Abuja, Lagos, London, New York, Washington, DC and all around the world, pressuring two consecutive Presidents of Nigeria to rescue the remaining 112 Chibok Girls, Leah Sharibu and thousands of others that remain in captivity.

For as long as they remain in captivity, we shall continue to carry them in our hearts and make our voices resound and reecho our cries of five years: “Mr President, #BringBackOurGirls now and alive!”

What are we demanding?

#BringBackOurGirls Now & Alive

What are we asking?

The truth, nothing but the truth!

What do we want?

Our girls back now and alive!

When shall we stop?

Not until our girls are back and alive! Not without our daughters!

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!

Signed:

For and on behalf of #BringBackOurGirls Abuja Family

Florence Ozor

Gapani Yanga

Nifemi Onifade

For and on behalf of #BringBackOurGirls Lagos Family

Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi

Aisha Oyebode

Ayo Obe

Babasola Olalere

F.T. Adebayo

Habiba Balogun

Monday Ojon

Ngozi Iwere

‘Yemi Adamolekun

Yemisi Ransome-Kuti

For and on behalf of #BringBackOurGirls New York Family

Debbie Almontaser

Dionne Boissiere

Donald Robotham

Iman Drammeh-Nur

Laurie Cumbo (New York City Council)

Marcia Fingal

Mojúbàolú Olufúnké Okome

Naomi Less

Pat Sellers

R. Evon Benson-Idahosa

Rodneyse Bichotte (New York State Assembly)

Ruth Messinger

Shahara Jackson

Sherrie Russell-Brown

Tania Darbouze

Tehilah Eisenstadt

For and on behalf of #BringBackOurGirls Washington DC Family

Omolola Adele-Oso

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

#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.