Nigeria’s “Bring Back Our Girls” Movement Marks One Month Anniversary Of Schoolgirl Kidnapping

A nighttime vigil in Abuja late Wednesday marked the 30th day in captivity of the 276 girls held by Boko Haram, the Islamist militant group that kidnapped them from their dormitory in Chibok, a village in northeastern Nigeria.

 

More than 250 people, many of whom have been attending daily rallies for two weeks, came out for the vigil in Abuja.

 

Other Nigerian cities have also held rallies, and they have been replicated in cities like Los Angeles, New York, Kingston, Jamaica, and even in Afghanistan, leader Oby Ezekwesili told the crowd.

 

 “The global advocacy for the girls of Chibok started from local advocacy for the girls of Chibok,” Ezekwesili said. “The advocacy started online, and moved offline.”

 She told the crowd that the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls, which organizers have used to unite the movement and catalyze international attention, has been tweeted or retweeted more than 3 million times.

 

 

Hadiza Usman, who began the movement, said she was concerned not only about the kidnapped schoolgirls, but about the indifference of her fellow Nigerians to the suffering from ongoing Boko Haram violence in the north.

 “We as a people were trying to develop a value system that was just about ‘me,’” she said, speaking of individualism. “That for me was worrisome… I felt the need to bring together like minds, even if it was just 10 of us.”

 

Two parents from Chibok thanked the crowd for the concern.

 

 

People were spirited.

 

 

 

And contemplative.

 

 

And occasionally light-hearted.

 

The vigil ended with prayers led by Christian and Muslim leaders.

 

The program went until nearly 1 a.m., and everyone was given a candle as they exited.

 

Last week, Michelle Obama joined the campaign to #BringBackOurGirls, for the hundreds of schoolgirls kidnapped by the Islamist group Boko Haram in Nigeria.