A march by the Bring Back Our Girls campaign outside the presidential residence in Abuja, July 2015. (AP Photo/Olamikan Gbemiga)
Two and a half years after the brazen abduction of 276 Chibok girls by Boko Haram militants, the Bring Back Our Girls Movement (BBOG) continues to advocate for their release, asserting its non-negotiable, unequivocal demand: “To bring back our girls now and alive”. The recent return of 21 of the girls, in a deal reportedly brokered by the Swiss government and the International Committee of the Red Cross, reminded the world about the horror of their abduction from their school dormitory in Borno State, north eastern Nigeria. While 57 girls managed to escape, 197 remain in captivity. In May 2016, Amina Ali Nkeki, one of the girls, was rescued by the local joint task force. Hope remains high, as President Muhammadu Buhari has promised the government will “redouble efforts to ensure that we fulfill our pledge of bringing the remaining girls back home. Already, the credible first step has been taken and Government will sustain the effort until all the remaining girls return safely”.
The abduction of the girls thrust Nigeria into the glare of the global news media, highlighting the inability of the government of President Goodluck Jonathan to protect its citizens. An international outcry, under the social media hashtag #BringBackOurGirls, was driven by the BBOG Movement. Born out of a need to ensure the plight of the girls was not dismissed, BBOG filled the leadership vacuum that emerged after the slow response by the government, and became an authoritative voice with its marches, daily sit-ins and online activism. Kadaria Ahmed, a journalist and media entrepreneur, describes the movement’s efforts as “amazing, particularly because they are operating in an environment where civic and civil advocacy is fairly new. Nigerians are not used to the idea that regular people get behind a cause and support it - not for personal gains but with a view to promoting a shared cause”.
