The Bring Back Our Girls, BBOG, group on Tuesday pledged to stay committed to the demand for the rescue of the Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram terrorists on April 14, 2014.
The group said the world cannot afford to move on without the girls and as such, the world cannot afford to deny the girls, whose search for improvement of life opportunity turned them into captives of terrorists.
To mark a third consecutive International Day of the Girl Child on Tuesday, the BBOG group, in a statement signed by its leader, former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili and the co-convener, Aisha Yesufu, drummed support on efforts by the international and local agencies working to mitigate the most pernicious effects of the insurgency on children.
The statement reads: “It is with deep sense of sadness that we join the world to mark a third consecutive International Day of the Girl Child without our 218 girls who were abducted by Boko Haram from a secondary school in Chibok, Nigeria on April 14, 2014.
“Since their abduction, this special day observed by members of the United Nations has had an even greater significance for the Chibok community, concerned Nigerian and global citizens, and the #BringBackOurGirls movement, because the themes are poignant reminders of how much the continued captivity of our Chibok girls – who the movement has always referred to as being symbolic of girls everywhere – highlights the long road to removing the barriers that continue to face girls around the world.
“This year’s theme for the UN’s fifth International Day of the Girl Child is Girls’ Progress = Goals’ Progress: What Counts for Girls. The theme not only focuses on the impact of girls’ progress on their own development but also their families’, communities’, and nations’.
“Our 218 ChibokGirls went to school to take advantage of the opportunity for a better life for themselves, their parents, family, community and the world. Regrettably, by not being rescued 911 days later, they, like many other young women in our country and elsewhere, are prevented from contributing to the achievement of our global development goals. What a big loss to the world, if nothing remarkable is done to remove all barriers that prevent such waste of talent.
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