The #BringBackOurGirls Movement has launched a 3-month Global Campaign which began on January 13th, 2019, three months to the day, five years ago, that the Chibok Girls were last free citizens of Nigeria.
13th April 2014 was the LAST night our Chibok Girls spent as free young women, the last night they thought they were safe and secure. The last night their parents had peace of mind.
This 90-day campaign is to pressure our government to free our 112 #ChibokGirls#LeahSharibu, #AliceNgaddah and countless other abductees before the fifth year anniversary of the abduction, which will come up on Sunday April 14, 2019.
As a movement made up of concerned Nigerians of all economic classes and provenance, we demand that our government:
1. Bring back our girls NOW and ALIVE!
2. Equip and look after the welfare of our police and our troops
3. Give our children safe and secure schools
4. Properly rehabilitate those who have been victims of conflict or crisis
5. Respond QUICKLY whenever something bad happens to our citizens, and
6. Communicate about what they are doing to the victim’s families and the general public.
Sunday April 14th, 2019will mark the 5th anniversary of the abduction of 296schoolgirls from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok by Boko Haram.
• 57 girls escaped in the first 24 hours.
• In the course of the intervening 5years, another 107 of the 219 girls held captiveeither escaped, were released after negotiations, or were found after the army liberated the areas where they were being held.
• To date, 112 Chibok Girls, bothMuslim and Christian,remain captives of the terrorists.
On Monday February 19th, 2018, 111 secondary schoolgirls, one primary school girl, and one primary school boy, 113 children in total, were abducted from Government Girls Science & Technical College, Dapchi by Islamic State West Africa, a splinter group of Boko Haram.
• After government negotiations 106 of the girls, and one boy were released after 31 days in captivity. To date, 6 Dapchi girls have not returned.
• It is reported that five died during the abduction and were buried. May their souls rest in perfect peace.
• One girl, Leah Sharibu was reported to have been denied release because she refused torenounce her Christian faith.A photograph of her in captivity has since been released
In March 2018, three international aid workers were kidnapped while providing humanitarian aid at an Internally Displaced Person’s Camp in Rann, Borno State. Alice
LokshaNggadah of UNICEF, Hauwa Muhammad Liman of the Red Cross and SaifuraHussani Ahmed of the Red Cross.
• Hauwa and Saifura have since been brutally executed. May their souls rest in perfect peace.
• Alice Ngaddahremains in captivity.
While we are aware of the efforts made so far, and commend the government for the recovery of 107 Chibok girls, and 106 Dapchi girls, we will not relent in our advocacy and strident demands for the rescue of our school children and fellow citizens from captivity. We also demand justice for the slain. We acknowledge and honour the sacrifice of our military and express our thoughts and prayers to the families of our heroes in the armed forces.
As concerned citizens of this country, the #BringBackOurGirls (#BBOG) advocacy group has highlighted the plight of these innocent girls and other victims of the insurgency, both at global level, and at home through protest and through constructive engagement with the government and other agencies, to secure the rescue of the abducted girls. Our advocacy includes nearly 5 years of a daily sit-out in Abuja; weekly sit-outs in Lagos, Oshogbo, and Ibadan; visits to key local and international stakeholders; development of strategies and tools such as ‘Citizens Solutions to End Terrorism’ and the ‘Verification, Authentication and Reunification System (VARS)’ for missing persons.
While we remain hopeful and expectant that the rescue of ALL the girls is imminent, if this hope does not materialize before April 14, 2019, we will, with heavy hearts, mark the 5th year of captivity for 112 Chibok Girls by gathering with members of the Chibok community and members of BBOG from all over Lagos.
To put pressure on our government to make a final push to close this painful chapter in our national life before we reach that sad anniversary, we are launching a global campaign.
The Global Campaign starts on Sunday January 13th, three months to the day that the Chibok girls last went to sleep and woke up as free citizens of Nigeria. 13th April 2014 was the last night our Chibok Girls spent as free young women, the last night they thought they were safe and secure citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The last time their parents had peace of mind.
This 90 day campaign is to pressure our government to free our 112 #ChibokGirls #LeahSharibu, #AliceNgaddah and countless other abductees before the 5th year anniversary of the abduction which is coming up on Sunday April 14, 2019.
As a movement made up of concerned Nigerians of all economic classes and provenances, we demand that government:
1. Bring back our girls NOW and ALIVE!
2. Equip and look after the welfare of our police and our troops
3. Give our children safe and secure schools
4. Properly rehabilitate those who have been victims of conflict or crisis
5. Respond QUICKLY whenever our citizens face any security threat, and
6. Communicate about what they are doing to the victims’ families and the general public.
We empathise with the traumatized families and communities of all the victims of insurgency, those missing, deceased, and forcibly removed from government schools where their parents thought they would be safe. We pray that many more families will be able to share in the joy of their children coming back home and having a bright future.
We call on local, national, regional and global influencers and authorities to support and pressure the Nigerian government to bring the nightmare of school abductions, violent extremism and insecurity to an end.
Signed:
For and on behalf of #BringBackOurGirls Lagos &Ejigbo Families
AbiolaAkiyode-Afolabi
Adwoa Edun
Aisha Oyebode
Ayo Obe
BabasolaOlalere
Deji Kolawole
F.T. Adebayo
Habiba Balogun
Jonathan Okanlawon
MondayOjon
Ngozi Iwere
YahiBwata
‘Yemi Adamolekun
Yemisi Ransome-Kuti
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