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730 days and counting: Chibok-parents still in the dark about daughters’ whereabouts

April 14, 2016, marks two years since Boko Haram abducted more than 200 girls from the Chibok Secondary School in northern Nigeria’s Borno State. To date the Chibok-parents have not heard any concrete news, about the whereabouts of their daughters.

Tomorrow it will be two years since Boko Haram abducted more than 200, mostly Christian, girls from the Chibok Secondary School in northern Nigeria’s Borno State. For the past 730 days, these parents have not heard any concrete news about their daughters.

Elusive Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, boasted about converting the girls to Islam and then selling them off as wives to Muslim men. Some women, rescued from Boko Haram camps, have testified to either seeing the girls or hearing about them. Some claimed the girls became Muslims, even Muslim fighters. Others claimed they were treated well and kept separate, enjoying superior treatment because they are a bargaining tool.

While some observers speculate that at least half of the girls have been killed, others guess that the girls are being forced or coaxed into performing suicide bombings at Boko Haram’s bidding. But from the government’s side, the silence towards the parents is deafening – not a word on continued searches and sustained negotiations or hints at rescue considerations.

The Chibok-parents – ridden with illness and diseases, due to the constant maddening turmoil in their minds over the well being of their daughters, and the absence of any concrete updates – are gathering tomorrow for a memorial service. Pray God’s protection over the memorial service, for the Lord’s comfort and healing, and for the safe return of the girls. Also pray that more will be done to help the Chibok community return to “normality” as much as is possible.

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