Nigeria girls' abduction: Protest march in Abuja
Nigeria girls' abduction: Protest march in Abuja
30th April 2014
Courtesy: BBC news
Angry relatives of the missing schoolgirls staged a protest
earlier this week
Hundreds of demonstrators are marching through the Nigerian capital, Abuja, to
press for the release of more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by militants two weeks ago.
The government denies claims by the protesters that it is not doing enough to
secure their release.
The Islamist group Boko Haram has been blamed for abducting the girls from their school in Chibok, Borno state.
Boko Haram has not yet made any response to the accusation.
The group, whose name means "Western education is forbidden" in the local Hausa language, has staged a wave of attacks in northern Nigeria in recent years, with an estimated 1,500 killed in the violence and subsequent security crackdown this year alone.
The Islamist group Boko Haram has been blamed for abducting the girls from their school in Chibok, Borno state.
Boko Haram has not yet made any response to the accusation.
The group, whose name means "Western education is forbidden" in the local Hausa language, has staged a wave of attacks in northern Nigeria in recent years, with an estimated 1,500 killed in the violence and subsequent security crackdown this year alone.
In tears
Organisers told the BBC that about 500 people were marching to the National Assembly to
hand over a letter demanding that the security forces be given more resources and that the
missing daughters are returned home.
The protest, labelled the "million-woman march" has been called by the Women for
Peace and Justice organisation.
Nigeria's Interior Minister Abba Moro told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio
programme that he understood the "outpouring of emotions", but the government
could not divulge details of the steps it has taken to help the girls regain
their freedom.
Government had to act in a "discreet" way because the militants had threatened to kill the girls if "certain steps" were taken.
Anger has mounted in recent days over the abductions. Parents have criticised the government's search and rescue efforts and the number of missing girls has been disputed.
March organiser Hadiza Bala Usman told the BBC that the women wanted to know why soldiers seemed so ill-equipped to find the girls.
She warned that the abductions would discourage parents from sending their daughters to school in an area where few girls are given an education.
Saruta, a woman from Chibok, told the BBC's Newsday that the community was desperate for help.
"For how long are we going to wait for the government to help us? We can't bear it anymore. We can't," she said, breaking down in tears.
"We just want the government to help us, we want the whole world to hear this and help us," she said.
The girls were seized from their school late at
night
On Tuesday, a local official said some of the girls may have been taken to
neighbouring states and forced to marry the militants.
Mr Bitrus, a Chibok community leader, said 43 of the girls had "regained their freedom" after escaping, while 230 were still in captivity. He was adamant that this figure - higher than previous estimates - was correct.
Swathes of north-eastern Nigeria are, in effect, off limits to the military, allowing the militants to move the girls towards, or perhaps even across, the country's borders with impunity, says the BBC's Will Ross in Abuja.
The students were about to sit their final year exam and so are mostly aged between 16 and 18.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau first threatened to treat captured women and girls as slaves in a video released in May 2013.
It fuelled concern at the time that the group was adhering to the ancient Islamic belief that women captured during war are slaves with whom their "masters" can have sex, correspondents say.
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using the subject line 'Chibok abductions'.
Nigeria girls' abduction: Protest march in Abuja
Government had to act in a "discreet" way because the militants had threatened to kill the girls if "certain steps" were taken.
Anger has mounted in recent days over the abductions. Parents have criticised the government's search and rescue efforts and the number of missing girls has been disputed.
March organiser Hadiza Bala Usman told the BBC that the women wanted to know why soldiers seemed so ill-equipped to find the girls.
She warned that the abductions would discourage parents from sending their daughters to school in an area where few girls are given an education.
Saruta, a woman from Chibok, told the BBC's Newsday that the community was desperate for help.
"For how long are we going to wait for the government to help us? We can't bear it anymore. We can't," she said, breaking down in tears.
"We just want the government to help us, we want the whole world to hear this and help us," she said.
The girls were seized from their school late at
night Mr Bitrus, a Chibok community leader, said 43 of the girls had "regained their freedom" after escaping, while 230 were still in captivity. He was adamant that this figure - higher than previous estimates - was correct.
Swathes of north-eastern Nigeria are, in effect, off limits to the military, allowing the militants to move the girls towards, or perhaps even across, the country's borders with impunity, says the BBC's Will Ross in Abuja.
The students were about to sit their final year exam and so are mostly aged between 16 and 18.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau first threatened to treat captured women and girls as slaves in a video released in May 2013.
It fuelled concern at the time that the group was adhering to the ancient Islamic belief that women captured during war are slaves with whom their "masters" can have sex, correspondents say.
Nigeria girls' abduction: Protest march in Abuja
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