Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) activists marked the ninth anniversary of the kidnapping of scores of Nigerian schoolgirls by Boko Haram militants on Thursday.
Ninety-eight of the 276 students kidnapped by militants from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, remain in captivity.
The incident sparked local and international outrage, with leaders and activists calling on Nigeria’s government to take action.
So far, 178 of the girls have fled, but many have returned home traumatized, some with children sired by Boko Haram militants, according to local media.
“Our hearts remain broken over the failure to close this shameful chapter in our country’s history, as promised by President Muhammadu Buhari in his address to the nation in 2015 and several times since,” BBOG said in a statement.
“Provide closure for parents regarding the fate of their daughters, whom they have reason to believe are dead,” the statement continued.
Asabe Kwambura, the head of Chibok school at the time of the kidnapping, told the Daily Trust newspaper that she was still reeling from the ordeal.
Yakubu Nkenki, chairman of the Chibok Parents Association, urged the government to seek the release of the remaining girls.
Amnesty International Nigeria said in a statement that the parents of the Chibok girls are “living in anguish,” emphasizing that the missing girls should be returned to their families and that those responsible should face justice.
