Gauri
Student, Study Hall School

On April 14th, the militant group Boko Haram kidnapped 300 schoolgirls, from the Borno state of Nigeria. On 30th April, a local leader claimed that the girls have been sold as wives to Jihadists. But there is no confirmed news on this.
The group did not reveal its objective behind the kidnapping for a long time. On 13th May, the militant group released a video saying; they want Boko Haram prisoners to be freed. Boko Haram’s leader, who appeared separately from the girls, said in the video: “I swear to almighty Allah, you will not see them again until you release our brothers that you have captured.” He had previously threatened to sell the girls into slavery.
The government is currently trying to negotiate with the group, but there has been no further progress, and the group is stuck to its demand of Boko Haram prisoners being freed.
A girl who managed to fled from the Jihadis, fears going to school. She said that the kidnapping was “too terrifying for word.” One of the girls claimed, that more girls could have escaped, had they not been afraid of their captors’ threat to shoot them. The police said that 53 girls had managed to escape and the captors are threatening to sell those still held into slavery.
Amnesty International alleged that Nigerian security officials failed to act on an advance warning about a militant group’s raid on a boarding school that led to the abduction of more than 300 girls. More than 300 girls were initially abducted, with 53 of them escaping later. At least 276 are still missing.
The Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has sought help from foreign powers, including the United States. But Nigeria is not the only country being affected by this militant group. There are many other countries that have been a victim of terrorism by this militant group. France in particular has been a victim of this group. Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is sinful,” has threatened civilians, attacked schools and has also kidnapped citizens of many other countries.
Nigeria and its neighbours on Saturday vowed to work together to combat Boko Haram in what Cameroon’s president Paul Biya described as a declaration of war on the Islamic rebels. Meeting in Paris, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and his counterparts from Benin, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger approved an action plan designed to counter an organization (Boko Haram), blamed for 2,000 deaths this year alone and which has caused global outrage with its abduction of more than 300 schoolgirls.
As for the girls, they are still missing and there has been no further progress on the case. It is a wait and watch situation, and the world unites in condemning this act of kidnapping innocent girls.
The group threatening to sell the innocent girls as slaves is a disgrace to democracy. The girls who managed to escape fear going back to school, and God knows if they will go back to school ever again. This is an unconscionable terror act against the education of innocent schoolgirls.
This is a shameful act indeed, and such a story can make anyone’s blood boil. I feel sorry for the girls and hope that the Nigerian government is able to find the girls as soon as possible.