While the world at the moment has been preoccupied by the threat of ISIS and the spread of Ebola, we have forgotten about a current human rights violation. Six months ago around 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, Nigeria were kidnapped by a radical Islamist group known as Boko Harem.
In the middle of the night last April, Boko Harem militants stormed the dormitories of a small girls school and captured nearly 200. Some were able to escape while the majority have not been heard from since. Immediately this sparked a world wide campaign to release the girls called #BringBackOurGirls. People from all around the world held demonstrations, pleaded with their governments and spread awareness through the web. This worldwide reaction brought hope to all who feared that the world was not united.
But then nothing happened. The girls were still missing and the world media quickly started to lose interest in the story. As soon as ISIS surfaced in Iraq and Ebola began to spread in western Africa, the kidnapped girls seemed to be all but forgotten. Was everyone just swept up in the idea of activism and not actually willing to act? Maybe.
It's been six months and we are finally getting some updates. Throughout this time while the word media has turned its attention elsewhere, the mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and friends of the kidnapped girls have mobilized throughout this time and have never stopped the campaign. Last week, for a moment, there seemed to be a glimmer of hope. The Nigerian government announced that it had a agreed to a truce with Boko Harem that would lead to the release of the girls, who are supposedly all alive. This is an election year for Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathon. So the safe return of the kidnapped girls would give him a significant boost in the polls. So that' where there is some doubt. Can Boko Harem be trusted? Is this a genuine truce? Because it seems to good to be true.
Well, it has recently been reported and confirmed by US officials that 60 more girls and young women were captured from the towns of Waga Mangoro and Garta on Saturday. This came a day after the Nigerian had announced that is had a struck a deal with the terrorist group. If this is is true, the fate of all of these girls seems bleak.
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