Finally, some outrage…

Earlier this month I asked my social media friends, “where is the outrage?” Several weeks ago, the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, under cover of darkness, abducted more than 200 teenage schoolgirls from their beds at the Government Girls’ Secondary School in northeastern Nigeria. They have made many chilling threats, including selling the girls, taking them as “brides” and using them as collateral to trade for their imprisoned comrades.

Since then, much has been debated about the fate of the girls and how to get them home safely, while President Goodluck Jonathan and the Nigerian government have been roundly criticized for their failure to rescue the girls. And now, the outrage is emerging.

People all over the world have taken to the streets to protest the slow wheels of justice in Nigeria and show their support for the girls. I covered a demonstration in front of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Washington, DC. Several hundred people joined local Nigerians marching back and forth past the embassy, shouting, “Bring back our girls!” Together, they expressed their passion for justice, their anguish for those held captive and their outrage of the brazen kidnappings.

Now with the help of American planes and experts from several countries, including France, Britain and Israel, the Nigerian military says they have located 200 of the girls
but claim it is just too dangerous to rescue them. The U.S. State Department has not confirmed this latest development.

Let’s hope these young women will soon be safe at home with their families.

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