On the night of 14–15 April 2014, about 276 female students were kidnapped from the Government Secondary School in the town of Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria. Responsibility for the kidnappings was claimed by Boko Haram, an extremist, Islamic, terrorist organization based in northeastern Nigeria. Some of the schoolgirls managed to escape over the next few weeks with some escaping starting at the school compound where they gathered them. Since then demands had been made on various occasions that the 219 remaining girls be released/rescued.
At this point in time, LPF team was on ground to undertake a Humanitarian Need Assessment in certain areas of Borno State and Chibok LGA was one of the Local Government Areas targeted. The outcome of our pre-assessment Selective Interviews in the LGA prompted a need to execute this Project. Some community members including some parents of the missing girls were of the opinion that the Government might be in connivance in their predicaments and as such nonchalant to their plights. Secondly the living condition of Parents and families of the abducted girls were in a state of crisis as they could not undertake their main source of livelihood (Farming) effectively for the fear of being attacked in the farm thus requiring urgent intervention. Some mothers said they have wished not to be alive while some fathers threatening to go after the abductors on their own. On the other hand, representatives of the government had different takes to the situation as most were skeptical and expressed desire to be brought to the picture of the incident.
Apparently there were several perspectives to the incident which had been reported and there was a need to get the right information particularly from the escaped girls as there was a cloud of uncertainty and doubts seemed to be fuelling inaction. The Government was craving for information which will lead to a clear understanding of what had transpired and will also bring most especially the parents of the abducted girls to a full understanding of measures being put in place to rescue the girls.
Though there were efforts made by the government to seek details of what had happened, one of such effort was the attempted visit by the Nigerian President to the affected communities, parents and other stakeholders which however did not take place. Another was an attempt to meet parents of the abducted girls and stakeholders in the community in Abuja but that could not hold as well.
LPF was informed of the government’s desperation towards understanding the situation but has not gotten the security clearance to visit the Communities. These amongst other issues led to the need to link the affected individuals and communities with the Nigerian government to foster much needed communication flow and overlapping of varying capacity and information. This means the Government gets the credible information they crave and same with the parents but also with a financial empowerment to enable them have a livelihood while waiting for the return of their daughters.
Lindii Peace Foundation (LPF), through their local sources is aware of how the people of the Chibok community were devastated and believed that the Government had left them alone to figure out the calamity and this bred a feeling of cluelessness and lack of a sense of belonging. Examples of such communities are Mife and Ping (villages in Chibok Local Government) where compared to Chibok main town, parent were not carried along in any way or informed on any news of their daughters or plans towards their rescue. This was owing to the fact that these villages are more remote and lacking a strong voice. LPF targeted them because even amidst their misery, they were the voiceless few with unheard cries. LPF partnered with National Orientation Agency (NOA) and National Information Centre (NIC) to provide the platform for some of the girls that escaped and parents of the missing girls an opportunity to be heard; for most to demand the rescue of their daughters while for others an opportunity to understand the measures and considerations being put in place to see that their life can be normal again.
The mediation was established and sustained to build trust within parties and to maintain much needed communication and information flow which will in-turn aid the development of a proper rescue plan while strengthening the resilience of the parents as they wait for the return of their daughters.
PROJECT DURATION
The Project was executed for six (6) months starting on the 23rd of June 2014 to the 26th of December 2014. However correspondence with NOA and NIC continued indefinitely and information regarding the accomplishment of the supreme objective of this project within the coffers of LPF will always be passed across to relevant authorities.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES:
Goal:
To facilitate parity between Government and affected Families in understanding the situation as regards the abduction and measures being employed towards rescuing the girls and preventing subsequent occurrence, while advocating for the rights of the girl child.
Strategic Objectives:
- To mediate between government and affected families towards facilitating and bridging the awareness gap between all parties
- To provide a platform for the escaped girls to offer detailed information that can establish facts of the occurrence to the government.
- To provide the Government and relevant government agency the right information for developing/enhancing a rescue strategy.
- To ensure that Government and its relevant agencies see the need to strengthen the resilience of affected families and communities.
- To promote human rights and advocacy for girl child education and literacy.
- To contribute to the fight against gender discrimination.
