By Christian George
Today, April 14, 2014, makes it nine years since the Boko Haram sect captured not fewer than 276 girls from Chibok, a town in Borno State.
The girls were abducted from the dormitory of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok.
The Boko Haram members reportedly visited the town in motorcycles, opened fire on residents of the village, burnt down houses, created panic and then went away with the girls.
The girls were loaded on their trucks and headed towards Sambisa Forest but 57 managed to jump out of the moving truck and escaped.
Others who were majorly Christians were pushed to renounce their faith and then forced into marriage as the sect believes that no girl is too young to get married.
Boko Haram which was founded in 2002 by a Muslim scholar, Mohammed Yusuf had been in existence for more than a decade before the abduction of the teenage girls.
The Swiss government and the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, led negotiations between the Nigerian government and Boko Haram, following which in October 2016, 21 of the Chibok girls were released and in May 2017, another set of 82 was released in exchange for five Boko Haram suspects.
The head of the Intelligence Unit of the Joint Military Taskforce in the North East, Operation Hadinkai, Colonel Obinna Ezuikpe said, “Out of the 276 abducted Chibok girls, 57 girls escaped in 2014, while 107 girls were released in 2018. Three girls were recovered in 2019, two in 2021 and nine were rescued in 2022, bringing the total to 178 girls out of captivity and 98 remaining in Boko Haram captivity.”
An activist in the frontline of activities around the terrorists, Malam Hamza Suleiman, who spoke on phone to Daily Post on Thursday morning, gave a number of reasons for this.
He explained that most of the girls may have been moved to neighbouring places like Lake Chad, adding that most of the girls may have had children, got acquainted with life over there and would likely not embrace freedom.
He said that some of the girls may have died in the process of the exchange of fire that may have taken place between the government security agents and the sect.
He regretted that as the years go by, Chibok girls are gradually being forgotten.
“Unlike the earlier years following the abductions, attention has radically shifted from the girls, such that until you called to ask for an update, I didn’t even remember that it’s nine years today.”
In view of the nine years anniversary, a short film inspired by the Boko Haram abduction of Chibok girls in 2014 will start streaming today April 14, 2023.
The movie, ‘Boy Meets Girl’, directed by the award-winning Nigerian-American filmmaker, Kaelo Iyizoba, is to unveil some of the insidious tactics used by extremist groups to manipulate vulnerable individuals.
“It also serves as a reminder to us all of the urgent need to address the underlying grievances that fuel terrorism in Nigeria today,” said the producer, Adnaan Muhammed-Ali.
