Hope fades for Nigeria’s missing girls
One year after Boko Haram abducts 100s of girls, victims’ whereabouts still unknown
LAGOS, NIGERIA— They have been gone a year now, the hundreds of girls abducted by Islamic militants from their school in northeastern Nigeria.
And while the cry to “Bring Back Our Girls” remains a worldwide cause, the new president on Tuesday would not repeat his predecessor’s failed promise to find them — only that they won’t be forgotten.
A solemn march was held to remember the 219 girls seized from their boarding school in Chibok by gunmen from the Boko Haram extremist group. In Nigeria’s capital of Abuja, 219 girls paraded in the streets, with each carrying a placard bearing the name of a kidnap victim.
“We believe the girls are still alive,” said Dr. Allan Manasseh, the brother of missing18-year-old Maryamu Wavi.
But it was clear that hope has dwindled a year after the April 14 to 15 mass abduction.
President-elect Muhammadu Buhari said he must be honest about the prospects of getting the missing girls back to their families.
“We do not know if the Chibok girls can be rescued. Their whereabouts remain unknown,” Buhari said in a statement.
“As much as I wish to, I cannot promise that we can find them.”
The statement by Buhari, a former military ruler of Nigeria who was elected last month and takes over May 29, is a marked departure from President Goodluck Jonathan.
After Jonathan’s administration initially denied there had even been a kidnapping, he made repeated hollow promises that the girls would be rescued.
Campaigners have replaced the slogan of “Bring Back Our Girls — Now and Alive!” with a new one: “Never to be forgotten.”
Still, some of the marchers on Tuesday held the new leadership accountable.
“We are here to appeal to the government to do better. We want our girls now and alive,” said Solamipe Onifade, 16.
A candlelight march was planned for after sundown.
The gunmen initially seized 276 girls, but several dozen managed to escape as the militants transported them to the Sambisa Forest, with some clinging to the branches of trees from a moving open-back truck.
Those still missing may have been split up. Witnesses said some girls were taken across the border into Cameroon.
Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, claimed they had converted to Islam and been married off to his fighters.
A negotiator said that at least three died in the early days, from a snake bite, malaria and dysentery.
Then, Jonathan refused to negotiate with Boko Haram, who were offering to exchange the girls for detained insurgents.
At least 2,000 women and girls have been abducted by Boko Haram since 2014, according to Amnesty International.
In Chibok, dozens of family members and supporters marked the anniversary by gathering at the remains of the school, in front of a burned out and roofless classroom.