Nigerians from all over the country Wednesday defied a heavy downpour of rain to hold a peaceful march to protest the abduction of over 200 girls from the Government Girls Secondary School, in Chibok, Borno State.
The protesters were both men and women, but more of women and they wore clothes with red as theme to depict their mood.
Their mission was simply to demand that the government and military do more to rescue over 200 female students kidnapped two weeks ago and are being held hostage at an unknown location by Boko Haram insurgents.
With placards bearing inscriptions like “Bring Back Our Girls”, “Free Our Daughters Mr. President. The Buck Stops With You”, announcing their mission, the protesters made their way to the National Assembly where they hoped to speak with its leadership.
Protest organiser, Hadiza Bala Usman, had explained that the protesters chose the National Assembly because that is where the abducted girls all have representatives.
“The government has to understand that we are not going to allow this silence to continue,” Usman said.
She condemned what she called the official complacency which has greeted the abduction, stressing “If this happened anywhere else in the world, more than 200 girls kidnapped and no information for more than two weeks, the country would be brought to a standstill.”
Former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili, also joined in the protest, leading the protest chants which received resounding response from the crowd.
She accused the military of having “no coherent search-and-rescue” plan.
Popular human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, also lent his voice to the campaign for the release of the girls.
The protesters are closely monitored by security agents, including the Police Commissioner of Abuja Police Command, Joseph Mbu.
The missing girls were abducted from their boarding school on April 14, 2014 and all efforts so far to locate where they are being held have proved abortive.
Daily Trust reported this week that the girls have been married off to Boko Haram militants in neighbouring countries like Chad and Cameroun.