Categories: News

Mothers Break Down at Abducted School Girls Protest

The Mothers of the missing Government Secondary School (GSS) students in Chibok, located in Borno State, Nigeria, staged a protest, calling for their daughters to be brought home, reports Sahara Reporters.

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At the protest, senators Barnabas Gemade and Helen Esuene reportedly told the women, who mostly belong to the Kibaku Development Association, that they are “considering a motion” regarding the stolen girls.

Not surprisingly, their response failed to satisfy the understandably desperate parents.

In reaction, some Mothers reportedly threw themselves down to the ground in despair, crying out for their missing children. The situation for the girls recently became exacerbated with reports indicating that the girls are being forced in to mass marriages and then being sold for 2,000 naira or $12 USD each to Boko Haram leaders near the borders of Cameroon and Chad.

The Washington Post reports:

“We have heard from members of the forest community where they took the girls,” Samson Dawah said, adding that there had been a mass marriage. ”They said there had been mass marriages and the girls are being shared out as wives among the Boko Haram militants.”

[A] girl’s father fainted, the Guardian reported, and has since been hospitalized. But the news got worse. Village elder Pogo Bitrus told Agence France Presse locals had consulted with “various sources” in the nation’s forested northeast. “From the information we received yesterday from Cameroonian border towns our abducted girls were taken… into Chad and Cameroon,” he said, adding that each girl was sold as a bride to Islamist militants for 2,000 naira — $12.

9 photos

Chibok Mothers Protest for Missing Daughters

On April 14th, it was originally reported that more than 100 students were abducted from GSS, with Borno Provincial Governor Spokesman Isa Umar Gusau informing the public that most of the girls had escaped and returned home. Borno Governor Kashim Shettima immediately spoke out — countering Gusau — that only 14 girls had escaped and the rest were still being held hostage, effectively elevating the confusion.

Soon after, Gusau would release another statement conceding that his figures were wrong, but the chaos would only escalate once it was discovered — nearly two weeks later — that the number of girls missing was actually double what was initially reported.

Meanwhile, heartbroken parents — and missing students — seemed to have been neglected by the government and local officials. Consequently, many parents decided to look for their children themselves. All of the parents involved in the searches would be forced to return home due to a lack of firearms and muscle needed to retrieve their most-prized possessions.

If you want to help in the effort of returning the GGS girls back home, you can sign this Change.org petition.

Abena Agyeman-Fisher

Abena Agyeman-Fisher is the Editor-in-Chief of Face2Face Africa. Most recently, she worked for Interactive One as the Senior Editor of NewsOne, she worked for AOL as the News Programming Manager of Black Voices, which later became HuffPo Black Voices, and for the New York Times Company as an Associate Health Editor. Abena, a Spelman College graduate, has been published in Al Jazeera, the Daily Beast, New Jersey’s The Star-Ledger, the Grio, BlackVoices, West Orange Patch, About.com, the Source, Vibe, Vibe Vixen, Jane, and Upscale Magazines. She has interviewed top celebrities, icons, and politicians, such as First Lady Michelle Obama, Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett, Civil Rights activist and diplomat Andrew Young, comedian Bill Cosby, Grammy Award-winning singer Jill Scott, actress and singer Queen Latifah, Olympic Gold winner Cullen Jones, international supermodel Alek Wek, and five-division world champion boxer Floyd Mayweather. Most recently, she served as the First Lady’s press reporter during President Barack Obama’s U.S.-Africa Summit, Young African Leaders Institute event, and the 2013 presidential trip to Senegal, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Tanzania. Abena is also a 2015 International Women's Media Foundation Africa Great Lakes Fellow, where she reported on women candidates and Chinese sweatshops in Tanzania for CNN and Refinery29.

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View Comments

Jolie Evelyn Salt says:

April 30, 2014 at 11:17 pm

AMERICA,, DO NOT IGNORE THE PLEA OF THESE PARENTS JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT THE CLIPPERS.
Stephanie Neimiller says:

May 1, 2014 at 1:13 am

This is heartbreaking…. countries around the world must help!
Mackenzie Leah M says:

May 1, 2014 at 1:40 am

SO TRUE.............. why isn't this all over the news?
Jolie Evelyn Salt says:

May 1, 2014 at 2:06 am

Mackenzie Leah M I don't know why it is not all over the news. Maybe because they are black children. As much as the world tries to say racism is dead,, it is not true. People are oblivious to the troubles of black people of all nations. I come from a multiracial family so I am not racist towards whites either but that is just the matter of fact.
Mary May Schofield DeJong says:

May 1, 2014 at 8:29 am

Jolie Evelyn Salt I sincerely hope you are wrong. Please know that the only thing that crossed my mind when reading this, was the terror these parents must be going through. I couldn't care less what their skin colour is. These are children being ripped from their lives and families who must be rescued. For the love of God, the media needs to make this a global issue and force their government to do the right thing and send in a rescue squad! NOW!
Serena Klein says:

May 1, 2014 at 10:45 am

Holy what the, did you just call them "possessions"? That was somewhat of a surprise punchline :/
Mona Farah says:

May 1, 2014 at 12:33 pm

god will help you inshallah!
cuz god is always there you!
Kikay Exum says:

May 1, 2014 at 1:16 pm

Calling for all MOTHERS, GRANDMOTHER'S, AUNTIE'S etc.... to CALL, EMAIL etc...PUBLIC SERVANT'S and the WHITE HOUSE to INTERVENE IN THIS MATTER. FATHER'S etc... don't think for a moment your are not needed....just hoping you all are busy MAKING THINGS HAPPEN FOR THE FAMILY!
Richard Ingram says:

May 1, 2014 at 1:17 pm

Jolie Evelyn Salt I understand your point but It's got nothing to do with them being black. American government have stated in the past with similar incidents such as Kony or children mining metal (coltan, very rare and in all mobiles, laptops ect to house processors) in the Congo that if it's not a threat to their financial infrastructure, they will not intervene.Therefore you will not see it in any mainstream media in America, as it makes the US look bad for doing nothing. Sad but true
Soumiya Noor Bouchikhi says:

May 1, 2014 at 4:06 pm

Imagine...this is your daughter, your sister, your friend, will you still be CARELESS? I don't think so, only because they are coming from Nigeria, from Africa no body cares.Shame on you world.

On International Labour Day I choose to stand and demand #bringbackourgirls.
These children were stolen and sold into prostitution through forced marriage and forced labor. The steel man labors to build strong infrastructure. The carpenter labors to build strong home. The woman labors to support all of humankind. Today they deserve justice. Someone send help and bring back those girls!