(CNN) -- Amid mounting international pressure,
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan spoke Sunday about his government's
efforts to rescue more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by militants.
"Wherever these girls
are, we'll get them out," he said, acknowledging that officials don't
know where they are. The President criticized the girls' parents for not
cooperating fully with police.
"What we request is
maximum cooperation from the guardians and the parents of these girls.
Because up to this time, they have not been able to come clearly, to
give the police clear identity of the girls that have yet to return," he
said.
Protesters took to the
streets over the weekend. On Sunday, about 100 demonstrators gathered
outside the Nigerian High Commission in London again, where they chanted
"Bring them back!" as well as "Not for sale!" and "African lives
matter!"
The mainly female crowd,
from young girls to older women, also carried banners that read "These
are our sisters" and "No child born to be taken."
"It's very important that
everyone do something," London teacher Leyla Chery, who attended the
demonstration with her 8-year-old daughter, told CNN. "We have ways to
find the girls, but we haven't done enough and the government in Nigeria
hasn't done enough. So we should definitely try to push them. I talk to
my students in class about the girls."
Crowds from Los Angeles
to London rallied on Saturday, carrying posters reading
#BringBackOurGirls -- a campaign that began on Twitter after the mass
abduction of the girls by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram last
month. In Washington, protesters gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to
denounce what they described as a poor response by the Nigerian
government to rescue the girls.
The social media campaign
has gained momentum with celebrities, such as singer Mary J. Blige,
offering their support. Education advocate and Nobel Peace Prize nominee
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who made a miraculous
recovery after being shot in the head by the Taliban, posed in a picture
with the #BringBackOurGirls poster.
On Saturday, U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry called on Nigeria's President to step up
efforts to find the girls, who were kidnapped April 14 from a school in
Chibok, in the country's rural northeast.
Anger has been mounting
in Nigeria over the lack of information about what efforts are under way
to secure the girls' release. Many contend authorities are not doing
enough and have taken to social media using hashtags #BringBackOurGirls
and #BringBackOurDaughters to demand more from the government, a move
that appears to have ignited a global call for action. Nigeria's Defense
Ministry has said it is committed to the search.
In London, Matilda
Egere-Cooper, one of the organizers of Sunday's protest, said she wanted
to raise awareness about the "disastrous" situation in Nigeria.
"I think its so
important that the Nigerian government do a lot more in finding these
women," Egere-Cooper, herself of Nigerian origin, told CNN. "We are here
today to lend our support in making sure that the girls are returned to
their family. We also want to bring attention to women being in the
center of various conflicts, wars that are happening around the world.
We don't think it's right."
Speaking during a visit
to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Kerry called on the government to
bring those responsible to justice.
"The kidnapping of
hundreds of children by Boko Haram is an unconscionable crime, and we
will do everything possible to support the Nigerian government to return
these young women to their homes and to hold the perpetrators to
justice," he said.
Boko Haram's name
translates to "Western education is a sin," and the group especially
opposes the education of women. Under its version of Sharia law, women
should be at home raising children and looking after their husbands, not
at school learning to read and write.
According to accounts,
armed members of Boko Haram overwhelmed security guards at the all-girls
school in Chibok, pulled the girls out of bed and forced them into
trucks. The convoy of trucks then disappeared into the dense forest
bordering Cameroon.
On Friday, Nigerian
authorities updated the number of girls kidnapped to 276. At least 53 of
the girls escaped, leaving 223 in the hands of their captors, police
said.
Authorities said that the new figure for missing girls -- 223 -- could grow as police fill in spotty school enrollment records.
http://www.sendasalute.cnn.com/2014/05/04/world/africa/nigeria-abducted-girls/index.html?hpt=wo_c1
Comments