Despite decreasing attention, a small but faithful group of supporters is trying to keep pressure on the Nigerian government – and the spotlight on the missing Chibok teenagers. Bring Back Our Girls campaigners in Nigeria still meet daily and they organised a Global Week of Action from October 11-18 to mobilise people around the world to the girls’ plight.
On Tuesday in Abuja they will march to President Jonathan’s villa to demand the immediate rescue of the missing girls from Chibok, a town 130km from Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.
Jonathan has been accused of keeping silent on the mass abduction and failing to bring the girls home. He responded in June saying his government would never abandon the search.
“My government and our security and intelligence services have spared no resources, have not stopped and will not stop until the girls are returned home,” the president said in a Washington Post opinion piece.
But months later, that pledge still remains unfulfilled – and for those affected the international media, too, has also failed to follow up on the story that dominated global headlines at the time.
“People need to remember that 219 girls remain in captivity,” Hadiza Bala Usman, a protest coordinator, told Al Jazeera. “We appreciate the fact that the media propelled a lot of support around the world, but that support has not translated into any rescue. For us, if whatever is said and done doesn’t translate into the rescue of the girls, it hasn’t really achieved anything.”