28th August, 2015
Activists in Nigeria have been undertaking a "global week of action" to mark 500 days since 276 girls were kidnapped from a school in the town of Chibok.
The girls were kidnapped on 14th April, 2014, after Boko Haram gunmen invaded the predominantly Christian town, setting fire to buildings and looting before taking the girls from their school. The 500th anniversary fell on 27th August. According to the Bring Back Our Girls Advocacy Group, 57 girls have since escaped but 219 remain in captivity.
In a week of activities, the group have been gathering to pray and hold church services and vigils as well as a march and processions. They also hoped to hold meetings with the Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff and national Human Rights Commission representatives but both meetings have been postponed.
Rev Samuel Dali, president of the Ekklisiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (‘Church of the Brethren in Nigeria’) Church, revealed this week that more than 176 of the girls kidnapped were from families belonging to the denomination.
Rev Dali also said that more than 8,000 members of the EYN church had lost their lives during the conflict with Boko Haram and that more than 70 per cent of church facilities in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states had been destroyed including the church’s headquarters in Mubi. It’s also estimated that 90,000 EYN members had been displaced by the violence.
Among those calling for the unconditional release of the girls this week was UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who said he did so as UN Secretary General and "personally as a father and grandfather".
Meanwhile, joining his voice with others calling for the safe return of the girls, Mervyn Thomas, the chief executive of religious freedom advocacy Christian Solidarity Worldwide, said his thoughts and prayers were with the girls and their families.
"The mass rape and sexual enslavement of women and girls rank among the worst of the numerous war crimes committed by Boko Haram," he said. "The sect’s professions of impeccable religious credentials do not tally with its propensity for rampant sexual violence and indiscriminate murder. It is in reality a death cult that indoctrinates members to kill without conscience…"
– DAVID ADAMS
