STATE OF THE NATION: Bring Back Our Girls

Dear diary, 

         

Have you popped into the Social media sites in recent times? Have you been watching the News? The whole world is agog with #BRINGBACKOURGIRLS. 

What is #BRINGBACKOURGIRLS all about? Here's 21 facts about it:

1. It's about 234 Girls that were abducted on the 15th of April in the early hours of the day from a secondary school in Chibok, Borno state.

2. The girls returned to school to write their W.A.E.C examinations when they were kidnapped (all schools in Borno had been closed due to insecurity in the state)

     

3. Nigeria's insurgent group Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the abduction.

4. The girls are teenagers between the ages of 16-18.

5. The men dressed in military uniforms and carted the girls away in trucks.

6. Mothers who could take it no longer, started the protests, crying before state and government houses. 

  

7. It started as an ordinary hashtag on twitter to bring the world to focus on the girls and find ways to rescue them.

8. There have been protests in different parts of Nigeria and all over the world. People who have no ties with Nigeria are standing with us.

 

9. Among the girls that were kidnapped were Christians and Muslims from different parts of the country.

10. The girls are allegedly being held hostage in the thick Sambisa Forest in Borno State.

11. The international media has been very active in the rescue mission to find the girls and they are going the whole 9 yards.

12. The United States of America, United Kingdom and France are some of the countries that have offered to help Nigeria in the rescue mission.

13. Some people still believe that the girls were never kidnapped and that it's all a scam.

14. There has been emotional breakdown in some quarters due to the delicacy of the issue.

15. Some of the girls managed to run away when the men came to abduct the girls from the school while others escaped when the truck broke down along the way.

16. There have been unconfirmed  reports about how the girls have been married off to other countries, how they are raped daily e.t.c. 

17. Amnesty international claims that the Nigerian military headquarters had prior knowledge (4 hrs advance warning) of the abduction but they failed to act.

18. There is intense pressure on the Nigerian government by the international community to find the girls.

19. Celebrities from all walks of life have endorsed the hashtag asking for the safe return of the girls to their homes.

20. The Nigerian Police Force has offered a #50,000,000 reward to anyone with useful information on Boko Haram and their activities 

21. The girls are our sisters, daughters, future wives and mothers. 

#BringBackOurGirls is not just about the girls, it's an accumulation of the frustrations of citizens in recent times. The land is no more green. It is now red with tears, pain and grief. Nigeria is in the spotlight now for all the wrong reasons. Our leaders have been brandished as corrupt by international media and there is little or nothing we can do about it. The only way to salvage the already lost image of the country is to find those girls and bring them back home. 

Some people have taken advantage of the hashtag for their selfish interest, lets remind them that the fight Is not about us but about our future as a nation. The atmosphere in the country at the moment is so thick, you could cut through it with a scissors. Learn to speak with wisdom because things you say (or do not say) may be taken out of context and used against you.

Don't stop the message. Tell somebody to tell somebody that we want our girls back. In faith and hope, we pray that they would be returned safely to the loving arms of their parents.

#BRINGBACKOURGIRLS

*Photo Credit: twitter, google.

*STATE OF THE NATION is a series that discusses issues that affect us as a nation.