Say 'No' to Sexual Jihad! #Bring Back Our Girls#

It’s been two years and twelve days since the cruel abduction of some 276 innocent teenagers, the Chibok schoolgirls that were whisked away from NorthEastern Nigeria by the much dreaded Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram on 14th April 2014. At first, the news of their abduction was greeted with disbelief. Even the government at the time, headed by President Goodluck Jonathan dismissed the incident as a carefully crafted rumour targeted at discrediting his government. And when later it became clear that the girls were indeed captured by terrorists, Nigerians went livid with anger. Men, women, youths, mothers, human right activists, students, parents, politicians, clerics and everyone stormed the streets in heart-wrenching protests, demanding that government swing into action to rescue the girls.
With time the international community threw their weight behind our agitation, calling the Nigerian government and all stakeholders to take responsibility for the tragedy and do it's best to rescue them.
Gradually, days turned into weeks, weeks into months and months into years. Now it's been two full years of indescribable pain, frustration, nightmare, agony, hopelessness and endless waiting.
Out of the many questions that continue to bug our minds, one pertinent riddle l cannot fathom is- Why would anyone choose to kidnap innocent girls seeking formal education and the prospects of a brighter future? Why would any sane person put up such hapless girls as bargaining tools in the fight against government and constituted authority, all in the name of religion?
As l watched last week, the CNN video report tagged Proof of Life, my heart sank; not because l was unhappy that we now have some concrete evidence to cheer our hearts that the girls are alive after all, but because the girls’ l saw in that video clip had lost their innocence, dignity and self worth. The 15 young women presented in that report (and by extension others believed to still be alive) have been subdued, crushed and reduced to sex slaves. They have been raped and disrobed; not only physically but also psychologically and emotionally.
One of the fundamental goals of the Book Haram is the agitation to lslamize Nigeria through its Jihadists propaganda and actions. Interestingly, the terrorist group can be said to have scored very high in that regard, having succeeded in converting these schoolgirls from Christianity to Islam. We cannot deny that they have been brainwashed, considering that some of them were lately used as suicide bombers. What more can we say, many of their victims are now teenage and emergency mothers. Of course, through this singular act, it is very certain that the terrorist group will populate the Islamic community and possibly the number of warlords that will emerge out of the children born and nurtured in their camps.
With so many twists and turns to this development, the question l ask is- ls there ever going to be an end to this nightmare? Even if our government succeeds in wiping out insurgents from our land and restoring peace and security, what becomes of the proceeds of the Chibok abduction episode has birthed? What becomes of the footprints of that incident on the sands of time? Some of the girls that were so lucky to have escaped are said to be receiving trauma treatments as provided by well meaning individuals and groups at home and abroad. As we continue to hold on tenaciously, hoping that the remaining abducted girls will yet be rescued, the question l ask is- What happens to them when they finally regain their freedom? Will they ever live as normal women again? Will their dignity and self esteem ever be restored? Will they ever be well integrated and accepted into the society? Will they not suffer the same and perhaps, worst form of discrimination and rejection? What happens to their children who were born and bred in the jungle?
As we keep hope alive for the release of these victims of sexual jihad, we must admit that the Chibok girls' abduction has left a life-long stigma on our national flag and by extension our national life. How shameful that two years down the line, we still have not rescued the girls? How shameful that the poor mothers of these girls are still groaning in pain and confusion? No matter what excuses we make, the episde of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls remains a sore point in our national history.

The Chibok experience is truly a symbol that Nigeria has lost a generation. Indeed, it is a symbol of the loss of our girls' childhood and innocence; the loss of the pride and honour of womanhood.