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German Petition Shows United Support for Abducted Nigerian Schoolgirls

May 13th, 2014
Petition Nigeria -Bring Back the Girls-.jpg

News from Berlin - On April 14th more than 200 girls were abducted in Nigeria from their boarding school where they were studying, in Chibok in the north of the country. They were kidnapped by terrorist group ‘Boko Haram' who will eventually sell them on the black market as brides for $12 each.

The mobilization to rescue the abducted girls has become increasingly important all around the world. In Germany Nigerian activist for women's rights Ify Elueze established a petition. This German petition has already gathered over 800,000 signatures and calls on all world leaders and enabled parties to rescue the girls. According to the author of the petition, the goal is also to show support to the families of the kidnapped girls and to “give encouragements to all the efforts being put into rescuing the girls”.

Boko Haram, or the ‘Congregation of the People of Tradition for Proselytism and Jihad’, is a terrorist group whose name means “Western education is a sin”. It was founded in 2002 and is based in Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger in order to establish an Islamic State ruled by sharia law, and to fight against “Westernization”. Through bombing churches, schools and police stations, and kidnapping and assassinating Western tourists and students the group has caused an estimated 10,000 deaths between 2002 and 2013.

“I am a young person who believes every child should not be denied access to education. We believe that more can be contributed to the efforts of the Nigerian Government to ensure the safe return of these girls” asserted Ify Elueze. By signing the petition, people can express their solidarity with the abducted girls, push the world not to forget them and support all efforts to release the girls. You can find the petition on the world platform change.org.

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