Malala fights for return of kidnapped Nigerian girls
Rights activist Malala Yousafzai has urged Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan to do everything in his power to find more than 200 teenagers abducted by Islamist terror group Boko Haram.
“My wish is to see every child go to school, and I want to see my Nigerian sisters being released from their abduction,” said Yousafzai, 17, who survived a 2012 assassination attempt by the Taliban, which targeted her for campaigning for girls’ education.
• Malala meets Nigerian escapees
• Malala bumps Lady Gaga
Boko Haram, which means “Western education is sinful”, kidnapped more than 200 teenage girls from their school’s dormitory in the town of Chibok, in northeastern Borno State, on April 14.
Jonathan promised Yousafzai his government was doing everything possible to ensure the kidnapped girls would be rescued alive and said he was taking measures to improve security in schools.
Despite support from numerous Western nations, Nigeria’s military has been unable to locate the girls.
On Sunday, Yousafzai met with some of the parents of the kidnapped girls, part of a three-day visit to Africa’s most populous nation.
“They are the ones who can really tell us what their daughters are suffering, and what they [the parents] are suffering, too,” said Yousafzai.
Boko Haram has killed more than 2000 people this year alone in Nigeria’s north.
When it first launched attacks in 2009, the insurgents mainly targeted Christians, under the pretext of wanting to establish an Islamic state.
Since mid-2013, Boko Haram has focused its attacks upon government security agents as well both Christian and Muslim civilians in their homes, markets, hospitals and schools.