THE GLOBAL WEEK OF ACTION 8 – 14 APRIL 2015: A SPECIAL ONE-YEAR COMMEMORATION OF THE ABDUCTION OF OUR #CHIBOKGIRLS

PRESS STATEMENT
Wednesday 8 April 2015
THE GLOBAL WEEK OF ACTION 8 – 14 APRIL 2015: A SPECIAL ONE-YEAR COMMEMORATION OF THE ABDUCTION OF OUR #CHIBOKGIRLS
On April 14– just about six days from today, it will be one year since 276 innocent schoolgirls of Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno state, Nigeria were abducted in their school by terrorists.  On that night of Monday 14 April 2014, and a few days after, a total of 57 of the abducted girls managed to escape on their own but 219 are still with their abductors one year after.

In the wake of their abduction, citizens were moved by humane considerations to advocate for their immediate rescue. Individual citizens who were aghast at the slow response of our Government to the plight of the school girls subsequently combined social media and on-the-ground  activities under the Movement since known as    #BringBackOurGirls to institute what has become a year long advocacy for #ChibokGirls. The Movement is a global one with groups all over many cities around the world.
The Abuja Family of #BringBackOurGirls is the leading citizens’ advocacy for the rescue of our abducted girls. Our location in the Capital Territory has offered us the unique opportunity to engage in daily “sit out” advocacy and public engagements over the nearly one year of their abduction. Our purely citizens movement has been guided by our Core Values which place the bond of Shared Humanity at the center of our advocacy to persist in demanding for appropriate rescue actions for our #ChibokGirls.
Although we have had diverse high level advocacy activities to mark specific milestone dates since their abduction, we had never envisaged that our Girls would still not be rescued nearly one year after their capture. We are therefore extremely saddened as the one year anniversary of this abduction approaches on 14 April 2015.
However although, we remain hopeful and expectant of their rescue even before that date, we have organized a Week of Global Action events to commemorate the tragedy of their abduction.
Today, Wednesday 8 April 2015, marks the beginning of our Global Week of Action #GWA.
Themed, “364 Days On, Chibok Girls — Never To Be Forgotten the one week of events to remind the world that our 219 #ChibokGirls are still in captivity will end on Tuesday April 14, 2015.
On social media, the Global Week shall be known as #365DaysOn #ChibokGirls  #NeverToBeForgotten.
During this special Global Week of Action, we have planned a diversity of activities like a walkathon, a call for Special Juma’at prayer in mosques nationwide and Asr Prayer at the Unity Fountain; a call for Special Prayers in Sunday Services in Churches nationwide and a Commemoration Service at the Unity Fountain; Social Media Chats;  a worldwide School Girls’ March;  the presentation of 219  #ChibokGirls Ambassadors (as part of the Global School Girl March); a Commemoration Lecture by Cardinal John Onaiyekan – the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja; a candle lit vigil, and many other events.   To access our schedule of events, kindly logon to our website at:
http://www.bringbackourgirls.ng/one-year-commemoration-activity/
The #ChibokGirls Ambassadors are schoolgirls aged ten to eighteen who have volunteered to stand in, march for our missing Chibok schoolgirls on 14 April. Please hurry to register as the entry closes shortly. Details are available at:
http://www.bringbackourgirls.ng/fuel-the-movement/ambassadors-form/
Schools can also organize a march as part of the Global School Girls March simply by signing on to do so at this link below:
http://bringbackourgirls.us/school-girl-march/
Reflecting the global spread of our Movement, #BringBackOurGirls groups in several cities, and many other partner groups, communities and individuals all over the world have informed us of various activities in honor of OUR 219 #ChibokGirls during this weeks. We would like to encourage many more who consider themselves friends of our #ChibokGirls in Nigeria, Africa and the world to join in this Global Week Of Action.
It is soon to be one year and our #ChibokGirls are not back! We must all continue to lend our voices to call for their rescue. We find their continued captivity extremely unacceptable.  Our abiding advocacy for their cause is specific in demands that the Federal Government of Nigeria should give our girls justice that they deserve by immediately rescuing them. Therefore, wherever you may be around the world, we urge you to join us in declaring that our innocent #ChibokGirls are global citizens that the world must ensure are #NeverToBeForgotten. We cannot afford to move on without a positive closure on this monumental tragedy that befell young women who went to school to be educated. Our girls are  crying to be rescued!
It took the outcry of everyone of us who have empathized with our #ChibokGirls from  far and near for their tragedy to be acknowledged and responded to by our Government. Regrettably, the expected result of having our 219 girls rescued and returned to their families is not yet achieved. The pain of this agonizing situation is expressed in the words of some of their parents.
“We don’t have a link with the government and no one seems to think that we deserve to be talked to. Daily we nurse our pains, and are inching towards hopelessness”; says Samuel Yanga, father of Sarah Samuel. A devastated Esther Yakubu, mother of Dorcas Yakubu says “The pain of missing a child is too much on me as a mother, yet my voice is meaningless. What have we done to them [the government] that they are [so] careless about us?”
Conclusion
We recall another tragedy that occurred on the early hours of the morning that same day –  April 14, 2014 that our #ChibokGirls were abducted. That was the horrific terrorist bomb blast in Nyanya, fourteen kilometres from Abuja city centre which killed scores; leaving many with various degrees of injury. These and their loved ones are victims of terror like our #ChibokGirls. We gathered from investigation and contacts with a number of them that they feel neglected and abandoned by our government. We seize this opportunity to call the attention of our Government and the general public to their plight. We demand for justice for everyone of the affected victims of terrorism in our land.
The continental spread of terrorism came into sharp focus with the recent gruesome killings of students at a University in Kenya. We again express our heartfelt condolences and empathy to the loved ones of those who died at the Garissa University, Kenya terrorist attack; the survivors and indeed to the good people of Kenya.
The Kenyan civil society and citizens have participated in several solidarity activities for our ChibokGirls in the last one year. We stand fully with you and pray that your nation and people would find comfort and peace as you grieve. We encourage the Government of Kenya in its effort to find the culprits and prosecute them as deterrence to other such evil minded individuals across Africa. We demand that all the member countries of the Africa Union must immediately act collectively and prioritize cooperation to tackle and eradicated terrorism on our continent.
Finally, we must acknowledge empathetic people all over the world who have raised their voices for our girl; from the one million women in Mexico who marched for their cause, to the hundreds of thousand who have stood for this cause from Syria, to Namibia, to the UK, to Afghanistan, to Canada, to Japan. Rich, poor; male, female; the young and the older; across all walks and perceived divides; all bound in a shared humanity demanding #BringBackOurGirls Now and Alive!
Likewise, we express profound gratitude for the continued efforts of some friends of our girls, who have stayed committed to their cause all through the past year.
Friends of OUR #ChibokGirls like the First lady of the United States– Michelle Obama, the youngest-ever Nobel Prize Laureate- Malala Yousafzai and global music icon— Alicia Keys are notable in their efforts.
Our #ChibokGirls are the symbol for the defence of the dignity and sanctity of human life; of the girl child, women, for all those oppressed, repressed, disadvantaged, hurting, unsafe persons everywhere. We must all prioritise their safe return.
Thank you.
Signed:
For and On Behalf Of BringBackOurGirls Group
OBY EZEKWESILI
HADIZA BALA-USMAN