The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) calls on Nigeria’s government to show more commitment to free the 112 schoolgirls who were abducted by the radical Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram in Chibok four years ago. “Their fate is still not known. When Muhammadu Buhari became Nigeria’s president in May 2015, he promised that the Chibok girls would be released soon. Now, four years later, the 112 abductees are still waiting to be set free – and the authorities are ignoring the worried parents,” explained Ulrich Delus, the STP’s director, in Göttingen on Sunday. “The way Nigeria is dealing with the abduction drama is not worthy of a democracy. Thus, the authorities are making ever new promises, but even the closest family members are not informed about the progress of the investigations or about the authorities’ initiatives.”

The Christian and Muslim schoolgirls were abducted from their boarding school in Chibok on the night of April 14/15, 2014. Of the 276 girls, 57 managed to escape during the first few hours. Another 107 of the Chibok girls were later exchanged under unknown circumstances, or were able to free themselves. The last sign of life of the remaining 112 hostages had been in January 2018, when Boko Haram leaked a video in which some of the abductees stated that they did not want to leave their kidnappers.

In the first years after their abduction, world leaders had pleaded for their release. Michele Obama and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala were their best-known advocates – and millions of people had joined campaigns under the motto “bring back our girls” to try and have them released. “Now, the Chibok girls are about to be forgotten, and – due to the forthcoming elections in 2019 – Nigeria’s politicians have an interest in distracting from their failure to fight Boko Haram,” Delius emphasized.

The parents of the abductees are complaining that the fate of their daughters is no longer a matter of public interest in Nigeria. However, there had been further spectacular kidnappings since the incident in Chibok. Boko Haram has so far captured more than 1,000 children and adolescents. Most recently, Boko Haram kidnapped 110 students between the ages of 11 and 19 in Dapchi on February 19, 2018. They were released a month later.

Header Photo: Xavier J. Peg via Flickr