A
vigil was held in Abuja late on Wednesday marked the 30th day in captivity of
the 276 girls held by Boko Haram.
Over 250 people, many of whom have been attending daily
rallies for two weeks, came out for the vigil. The event held inside the
Thisday Dome. Parents from Chibok were also in attendance and together
they all poured out their to God in prayer, and thanked the crowd for the
concern.
Other
Nigerian cities have also held rallies, and they have been replicated in cities
like Los Angeles, New York, Kingston, Jamaica, and even in Afghanistan, leader
Oby Ezekwesili told the crowd.
“The
global advocacy for the girls of Chibok started from local advocacy for the girls of Chibok,”
Ezekwesili said. “The advocacy started online, and moved offline.”
She
told the crowd that the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls,
which organizers have used to unite the movement and catalyze international
attention, has been tweeted or retweeted more than 3 million times.
Hadiza
Usman, who began the movement, said she was concerned not only about the
kidnapped schoolgirls, but about the indifference of her fellow Nigerians to
the suffering from ongoing Boko Haram violence in the north.
“We
as a people were trying to develop a value system that was just about ‘me,’”
she said, speaking of individualism. “That for me was worrisome… I felt the
need to bring together like minds, even if it was just 10 of us.”
Two parents from Chibok thanked the crowd for the
concern.
 |
| Chibok parents |
-Buzzfeed
No comments:
Post a Comment