A year ago today, Islamist insurgents belonging to Boko Haram struck in Chibok, Borno State, abducting close to 300 schoolgirls who were taking their exams at the Chibok Girls Secondary School. To mark the anniversary of that tragic abduction, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka today in Lagos led numerous marchers in a solemn event to remember the plight of the victims and to further mount pressure on the Federal Government to pursue the objective of rescuing the girls.[slideshow]39058[/slideshow]
Women Arise, led by activist Joe Okei-Odumakin, organized today’s event. Tagged #Chibok1Year, the participants called on President Goodluck Jonathan to increase efforts to rescue the captives. The organizers also urged the incoming administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to help rescue the abducted schoolgirls should the incumbent government fail to do so.
The #Chibok1Year Lagos event was also attended by Pat Utomi, a professor of economics and one-time presidential contestant, Ganiyat Fawehinmi, wife of the late radical human rights lawyer and activist, Gani Fawehinmi, and Aisha Falode, a prominent broadcaster who recently lost her son in a mysterious incident in Dubai. Numerous musicians, artistes and activists also took part in the event.
Sending words of comfort to the families of the abducted schoolgirls, Ms. Falode lamented the failure of the Goodluck Jonathan government to pursue the rescue of the girls. “I lost my son in Dubai. We know the killers, but this Government has failed to do anything or act at all,” the sports broadcaster said.