Today marks 2 years since the kidnap of the over 200 girls kidnapped from the Chibok Secondary School in Borno State. Yesterday, CNN published a video sent to the government by the terrorist group, Boko Haram, as ‘proof of life’. The 2-minute clip was reportedly recorded on December 25, 2015, and had about 15 girls respond to questions about their school, where they were taken and the date of recording, before they made a plea.
Much has been written about the kidnap of the girls, the reign of the group and the victims displaced from their communities, but the horror of having over 200 girls at the mercy of the terrors, whose reign has led to the death of over 1,500 people, leaves the mind numb.
And that’s the horror today expressed on social media by Nigerians and other people of the world who have refused to forget the young students; the girls’ only crime was that they wanted to attend school.
The somberness on social media can almost be felt, and we have collated some of the reactions here.
Here’s how people have chosen to remember the missing girls:
Always in our hearts… We pray for everyone who has been affected by violence and terrorism. #BringBackOurGirls pic.twitter.com/gw5Pze94pP
— MoneyMattersWithNimi (@MMWithNimi) April 14, 2016
2 years since the abduction of the Chibock girls in Nigeria – thoughts with families. Government must continue search #BringBackOurGirls
— Mike Kane (@MikeKaneMP) April 14, 2016
??. Heartbreaking watching #BringBackOurGirls mothers watch/identify their daughters in new video https://t.co/E2TDuNEXHy
— Victoria Uwonkunda (@Msuwonkunda) April 14, 2016
Wow! It's been 2yrs our girls got kidnapped?
Imagine what they've been through…#BringBackOurGirls— LONE WOLF (@Ovythrow) April 14, 2016
On this day in 2014; the Chibok Girls were abducted by the deadliest terrorist group in the world, BokoHaram. 2 years on #BringBackOurGirls
— JJ. Omojuwa (@Omojuwa) April 14, 2016
Two years ago, members of the Boko Haram sect abducted 276 girls from Government Secondary School, #Chibok.
— Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara (@YakubDogara) April 14, 2016
I commend the resilience of the parents of the #ChibokGirls and everyone who lost a loved one in the #BokoHaram insurgency. Stay strong!
— Dr. Aminu Gamawa (@aminugamawa) April 14, 2016
"All we are saying…#BringBackOurGirls NOW and alive!"
Our cries remain the same.
Our #HopeEndures. pic.twitter.com/6eBOxsstDQ— EiE Nigeria (@EiENigeria) April 14, 2016
Lest We Forget #BringBackOurGirls 2 years & counting… #speechless? No we must speak up! RT pic.twitter.com/yEn6WoTvQm
— Back2Black (@bcktoblk) April 14, 2016
And the march on @AsoRock begins to #BringBackOurGirls….
— Dr. Ayoade Alakija (@yodifiji) April 14, 2016
2 years on! #BringBackOurGirls #HopeEndures pic.twitter.com/CjbcNxO7Sl
— MMFNigeria (@mmfng) April 14, 2016
Two years on. Over 200 girls still missing. We've said it before, and we'll say it again: #BringBackOurGirls pic.twitter.com/L3jGwlNvBe
— Plan International (@PlanGlobal) April 14, 2016
2y ago today, the #Chibok girls were abducted. UN #humanrights experts call for actions to #BringBackOurGirls https://t.co/8Da0UHoCtU
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) April 14, 2016
Positives; 27 of the students who escaped Boko Haram that night are now studying at the American University of Nigeria #BringBackOurGirls
— JJ. Omojuwa (@Omojuwa) April 14, 2016
1.No one can fully understand or appreciate what the parents of #ChibokGirls are going through. #BringBackOurGirls #WhyIsTheWorldSilent?
— Adetutu Balogun (@Tutsy22) April 14, 2016
Live in Chibok at the school ground with the parents of the missing school girls! What a sad day!!
— Aboku samson Chibok (@megadonjigga) April 14, 2016
Today some mothers have spent 2y knowing their girls are with sub-human elements. This is the worst kind of suffering
Pls #BringBackOurGirls— Dr. Ameenah (@amkmusty) April 14, 2016
214 girls still missing.
730 days in abduction.
1 nation that failed them.#BringBackOurGirls
— Charles the 1st (@9jaBloke) April 14, 2016
Two years. Too long.#ChibokGirls. #NeverToBeForgotten.#HopeEndures #BringBackOurGirls @MBuhari #BringBackOurGirls @HQNigerianArmy
— Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) April 14, 2016