The Pakistani rights activist, Malala Yousafzai has met with the President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan to press for more action to be taken bring back more than 200 schoolgirls abducted Boko Haram militants.
Boko Haram abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in the Nigerian northeastern town of Chibok in April and all efforts to free the girls have not yielded any positive results.
Malala Yousafzai who survived a Taliban assassination attempt in 2012 marked her 17th birthday on Monday by meeting the Nigerian President to press for more action to be taken to rescue the abducted girls.
An international rescue operation is still being carried out by the US and its allies to be able to locate and free the girls.
Malala who has become an international symbol for women’s rights around the world urged the militants to free the girls without any harm.
“My birthday wish this year is ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ now and alive, lay down your weapons, release your sisters, release my sisters. Release the daughters of this nation. Let them be free. They have committed no crime.”
She also spoke against the custom of child brides in her home country and urged the militants not to trade the girls with their desire since it is against Islam.
“You are misusing the name of Islam; Islam is a religion of peace. Protect girls from cruelty; I could see tears in their eyes. They were hopeless. But they seem to have this hope in their hearts, the great challenge in rescuing the Chibok girls is the need to ensure that they are rescued alive,” She said.
President Jonathan’s government has faced strong criticism for not doing enough to bring back the girls and analysts say this visit by Malala could bring some sort of change soon.
But a statement from the Presidency after the meeting with Malala, Mr. Jonathan said he would meet with the parents of the abducted girls to personally comfort them and reassure them that the government was doing all within its powers to rescue their daughters.
The statement also dismissed the notion that the government has not been doing enough to find and rescue the girls.
On Sunday, Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau released a new video mocking the “Bring Back Our Girls” campaign on social media. He said in the video that the only way the girls will be freed would be the Nigerian government to free suspected Boko Haram fighters in jail.
But the Nigerian government has said that it would never negotiate with terrorists. A deal for the girls was nearly brokered in April when the girls were abducted but the Nigerian government pulled out the deal last minute.
The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre and the Norwegian Refugee Council has said that some 3,300 people have been killed by Boko Haram this year alone. Political analysts say this the worse year for Nigeria since Boko Haram began its campaign in 2009.
President Goodluck Jonathan has said that he would use force to eliminate Boko Haram from Nigeria to bring back the peace the country enjoyed previously. But this promise has yielded no results as Boko Haram still attack when and where they like without any resistance from government troops.
Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News
Writer’s Email Address: Adamsisska@googlemail.com
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