Nigeria marks 500 days since Chibok girls kidnapping

Aug 31, 2015 Nigeria recently marked 500 days since the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in the northeastern town of Chibok by the Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

The mass abduction brought the Islamist group to international prominence and prompted a viral media outcry demanding the release of the girls with personalities such as US First Lady Michelle Obama and Angelina Jolie throwing their weight behind the campaign.

According to reports, over 50 of the girls have successfully escaped the abductors camp, however the where about of the rest is yet to be known. The sect, whose name literally translates: “Western education is sinful”, has killed thousands and displaced about 1.5 million people over the course of their six-year campaign to carve out an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.

The commemoration will feature a march by the Bring back our girls group and a candle-lit procession.

According to Bukky Shonibare, the media coordinator of the initiative, the group recently met with President Muhammandu Buhari to request for the immediate rescue of the girls.

On the positive side, the joint military action between Nigeria and its neighboring countries has succeeded in driving the Islamic sect from most of the regions they controlled earlier this year.

However more needs to be done as several rounds of negotiations with Boko Haram have failed, essentially because the group has different factions.