Nigerian governor says 279 schoolgirls freed
Process mired in debate as trustee doubts validity of community survey
GUSAU, NIGERIA—Hundreds of Nigerian girls abducted last week from a boarding school in the country’s northwest have been released, a state governor said Tuesday, as the West African nation faces a spate of school kidnappings.
The girls, ages 10 and up, dressed in light blue hijabs and barefoot, packed into Zamfara state’s Government House conference room. They appeared calm, chatting to one another as they sat in long rows while journalists photographed them.
They will receive a medical checkup before being returned to their parents.
Zamfara Gov. Bello Matawalle said that 279 girls had been freed after being abducted from the Government Girls Junior Secondary School in Jangebe town on Friday. The government last week said 317 had been kidnapped. It was not clear if the higher number was an error or if some girls were still missing.
“Alhamdulillah! (God be praised!) It gladdens my heart to announce the release of the abducted students,” Matawalle said in a post on Twitter early Tuesday. “I enjoin all wellmeaning Nigerians to rejoice with us as our daughters are now safe.”
Officials said “bandits” were behind the abduction, referring to the groups of armed men who operate in Zamfara state and kidnap for money or to push for the release of their members from jail.
At the time of the attack, one resident told The Associated Press that the gunmen also attacked a nearby military camp and checkpoint, preventing soldiers from responding to the school.
One of the girls recounted the night of their abduction to the AP.
“We were sleeping at night when suddenly we started hearing gunshots. They were shooting endlessly. We got out of our beds and people said we should run, that they are thieves,” she said. Officials ended the interview before the girl could give her name.
The attackers eventually found her and some classmates and held guns to their heads, she said.
President Muhammadu Buhari expressed “overwhelming joy” over the release of the girls.
A high school that Black community organizations campaigned to have renamed in Vaughan will now be named after Hodan Nalayeh, a Somali-Canadian journalist from the area.
All but two trustees in the York Region District School Board voted in favour of finalizing a motion that was ushered in at a meeting last week, to name the school after Nalayeh. Ten in total supported Nalayeh’s name.
“It is with a heavy heart and with a deep sense of gratitude that we accept the community’s recommendation … to rename the school in question with Hodan’s name,” said a statement that Nalayeh’s family sent to the Star, via Sahra Nalayeh, Hodan’s sister.
Hodan Nalayeh believed that education teaches you how to defend your rights and have compassion for others, which is why she advocated for continuously learning, they said.
“With it, comes a tremendous responsibility to uplift and support all students.” they said.
Nalayeh was known for telling uplifting stories about the Somali diaspora in the region and providing a voice for youth and women. She had launched her own TV show in Toronto on OMNI TV before her death in 2019.
Trustee Bob McRoberts said at the meeting Tuesday night that “the sole reason for renaming is because of the Black community in Vaughan.
“I believe the name should be the one that most of the Black community and many others have asked for.”
But the renaming process has been mired in debate and criticism after the trustee tasked with leading the process — David Sherman, who represents wards in Markham and Vaughan — questioned the validity of a community survey that he designed.
Sherman said at the meeting that the other trustees are not considering the voices of students and parents.
“We even specified Vaughan in our communication and yet trustees continue to point to participants of the town hall … who have never stepped foot in the school,” he said.
Trustee Elizabeth Sinclair, who has stated that the renaming process has been harmful to the Black community, said the “extensive survey and town hall meeting” were designed by Sherman and the result of those consultations clearly showed Nalayeh was favoured.
This will be the first high school in the board to be named after a person of colour.
Sherman has alleged publicly, and in past statements to the Star, that “certain communities” gave Nalayeh’s name an unfair boost in the survey by encouraging those outside the country to submit her name. He did not respond to the Star’s request for comment this week.
The survey results, presented as legitimate by YRDSB staff in January, found that 42.5 per cent of those providing submissions sent in Nalayeh’s name.
In the weeks since Sherman’s comments about his survey, organizations like the National Council of Canadian Muslims have encouraged Canadians to send letters of support to the board in favour of Nalayeh.
Last week at a property management committee meeting, the other seven trustees in attendance opposed Sherman’s motion to name the school after anti-slavery activist Mary Ann Shadd, as they said the community had clearly picked Nalayeh as their top choice.
They formally recommended the school be named after Nalayeh, which was finalized Feb. 23.
The school, formerly named Vaughan Secondary School, is being renamed after community organizations like the Vaughan African Canadian Association campaigned to have it renamed, as Benjamin Vaughan was an 18th-century slave owner.