Nobel Peace Prize winner and girls education activist, Malala Yousafzai has called for more action on the release of the schoolgirls abducted by the Boko Haram terrorist group in Nigeria, a year ago.
In an open letter to the girls, Miss Yousafzai criticised Nigeria’s authorities and the international community for not doing enough to secure the release of the girls.
The Boko Haram militants caused global outrage after abducting the girls from Nigeria’s north-eastern Chibok town in Borno State.
According to estimates by the UN, the insurgency has displaced 800,000 Nigerian children.
In an open letter to the abducted girls, Yousafzai said: We cannot imagine the full extent of the horrors you have endured. But please know this: we will never forget you.
The young Nobel Peace Prize winner added that there were reasons for hope and optimism, after recent successes by Nigeria’s military in recapturing territories from Boko Haram.
I look forward to the day I can hug each one of you, pray with you, and celebrate your freedom with your families, Ms Yousafzai said.
In the mean time in Nigeria, the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) campaign group is encouraging people to remember the girls ahead of the first anniversary of their abduction on Tuesday. As part of the week-long activities to mark one year of the girls’ abduction, a vigil and candlelit procession is due to be held in the nation’s capital, Abuja, on Tuesday as well.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), said the abduction of the schoolgirls from Chibok was only one of the endless tragedies being replicated on an epic scale across Nigeria and the region.
In a report, UNICEF has said that the number of children fleeing the Boko Haram insurgency has doubled in the past year and more than 1.5 million people have now been displaced in the six-year conflict.