Chibok Girls/Boko Haram
More on Chibok Girls/Boko Haram
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
United States House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi yesterday reaffirmed Capitol Hill's support for finding the 219 schoolgirls who were abducted two years ago.
Alongside fellow members of Congress and girls who had escaped the 2014 kidnapping, Pelosi (D-Calif.) they repeated pledges to locate the girls and bring them to safety.
Yesterday, May 18, 2016, Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson (D-Fla.) and several House lawmakers hosted a press conference in response to the breaking news that one of the 219 Chibok schoolgirls had been rescued more than two years after they were abducted from their dormitory rooms by the world's deadliest terrorist group, Boko Haram.
Lawmakers Respond to Chibok Schoolgirl Return
Last week one of the 219 Nigerian Chibok schoolgirls was rescued from captivity after being kidnapped by terrorist group Boko Haram more than two years ago.
Lawmakers, advocates and support groups rejoiced for the victory during a news conference on Wednesday, May 18 on Capitol Hill Northwest.
Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), a front-runner on the issue since it happened, asserted that "time is of the essence" for the rest of the girls in bondage.
Today marks a dark moment in Nigeria's history. On February 24, 2014, the Islamist militant group Boko Haram killed 59 boys at the Buni Yadi secondary school in Yobe state. That same year, Boko Haram killed enough people to earn the title of the "world's deadliest terrorist group."
Lawmakers Recommit to 'Bring Back Our Girls'
On the second anniversary of Boko Haram's kidnapping of hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls, Florida Democratic Rep. Frederica S. Wilson and colleagues vowed to continue pushing for their return.
Representative Frederica Wilson of Florida is easy to spot in a crowd. Dressed all in red from her cowboy hat to her boots, she stood on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol on Thursday to mark the somber two-year anniversary of the abduction of more than 200 girls from the northern Nigerian village of Chibok by the militant group Boko Haram.
Although separated by thousands of miles, and vast political and cultural differences, one major commonality between the Chibok school girls and Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson is the idea that an education can change lives. Two years ago when she learned that the girls had been kidnapped on April 14, 2014 as punishment for seeking an education, Wilson was "both shocked and angry."
Release of 21 Girls by Boko Haram Shows Advocacy is Never in Vain, Says Congresswoman
Long after the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag advocacy blitz was relegated to the back burner by most of Washington, Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) has been tweeting about the plight of the Chibok schoolgirls every single day.
Wilson has also held town hall meetings and participated in press conferences and hearings on the threat still posed by Boko Haram since the terror group abducted 276 girls in an attack on a secondary school in April 2014.
The French author, historian and philosopher Voltaire once wrote that "faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe." It is a sentiment I am certain several of my congressional colleagues have felt when week after week, I doggedly sought their support in the effort to secure the safe return of hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls who on April 14, 2014, were abducted from their boarding school by the terrorist group Boko Haram.