Parents of the missing Chibok schoolgirls have again demanded the rescue of their wards eight years after over 276 victims were abducted from their school by Boko Haram fighters.
While 110 were reunited with their parents between 2016 and 2018 after a ransom of €3 million was paid, about 110 girls are still missing since after the abduction which occurred on April 14, 2014. Three were found or rescued in the Sambisa forest.
Yana Galang, whose daughter, Rifkatu, then 17, was among the abductees, lamented the plight of her child who is still not back home more than eight years later.
Galang, who spoke to The Independent, said, “It’s a very sad day again. Anytime we remember this 14 April; mothers, we are always crying. But it is well. As women leaders, I advise them, counsel them not to worry and to only put our hope in God.”
Yakubu Nkeki, whose daughter was among those rescued, feels delighted that she has been freed and is being taken care of by the government, but he remains concerned about the parents whose children are still missing.
Nkeki said he would continue to advocate for the rescue of the captives and ensure that the parents of the freed girls still show solidarity with others whose daughters are still in captivity.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International has said over 1,500 schoolchildren have been abducted since the Chibok schoolgirls were kidnapped.
The group said authorities were increasingly failing to protect children in the country, noting that the fear of abduction was causing a drop in school enrolment.
The human rights group stated this in a statement on Wednesday, titled, ‘Nigeria: Eight years after Chibok, thousands of children subjected to abduction by armed groups.’
Our correspondent reports that hundreds of children were abducted from schools in Kaduna, Kebbi, Zamfara, Katsina and Niger states in 2021.
Nigeria Director, Amnesty International, Osai Ojigho, stated, “The increasingly brazen manner of recent abductions shows that the Nigerian authorities are failing to prevent these crimes from taking place, and have not learned any lesson from the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls eight years ago.
“Meanwhile, the families of the abducted children are left without any hope of reuniting with their loved ones. Nigeria is failing to protect vulnerable children.
“By refusing to respond to alerts of impending attacks on schools across the northern part of the country, the Nigerian authorities have failed to prevent mass abductions of thousands of school children.
“In all cases, the Nigerian authorities have remained shockingly unwilling to investigate these attacks or to ensure that the perpetrators of these callous crimes face justice.
“Every fresh attack is followed by further abductions that deprive school children of their right to liberty, and leave victims’ families with no hope of accessing justice, truth, or reparations.”
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