By Rachel Starling, Sophia Pagnone, Licette Renteria, Madison Mercer, and Leila Youssef
On April 14, 2014 276 schoolgirls were abducted from a boarding school in Chibok, a town in the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno. The girls were taken in the middle of the night from their dormitories by members of the militant Islamic group, Boko Haram. The abduction of the girls provoked intense international outrage. The #BringBackOurGirls campaign was created as a sign of global solidarity and was somewhat effective in creating pressure on the Nigerian government to search for the missing girls. As years stretched on, the Chibok girls dropped from the forefront of public interest. This past week, 21 of the girls were released to their families after successful negotiations between the Nigerian government and members of Boko Haram. Currently the Nigerian government is negotiating the release of 84 more girls. However, the government has only agreed to continue negotiations under the condition that international organizations such as the Red Cross, who played a large role in the negotiations that have led to the release of the 21 girls this last week, continue to participate in future negotiations (Bada, 2016). This development is bringing the girls somewhat back into the scope of international attention.
The intensity of international response to the abduction of the girls shows the crucial role that media coverage can have in raising awareness of domestic issues across the globe. Shortly after the initial abduction of the Chibok girls, the U.S. and U.K. sent specialist teams to Nigeria to aid in the search for the girls. Canada, Israel, Australia, China, and many other countries vowed support to the Nigerian government as well (Donnelley, 2014). International coalitions such as the United Nations had also responded to the abduction, by collecting information on the abuse of children by Boko Haram as well as supporting the Nigerian government’s efforts (Zerrougui, 2015). The hashtag “BringBackOurGirls” became extremely popular on social media sites such as Twitter and Instagram. This greatly boosted international attention in the aftermath of the abduction of the Chibok girls. The cry to #BringBackOurGirls was heard around the world. Although media coverage did bring awareness to the missing girls, it didn’t necessarily resolve the situation, as many years lingered on without any substantial development made (UN News Centre). Other terrorists actions committed by the group have gone largely unnoticed by the international community. This is in part, many claim, due to the questionable and inconsistent response from the Nigerian government concerning this terrorist group.
In response to the abduction, and to other terrorist acts committed by Boko Haram, the Nigerian government had launched a domestic hardline approach that has raised some human rights concerns. Some of the government’s counter-terrorism methods implemented by its Joint Task Force (JTF) have involved illegal killings, the use of torture, and suspicious disappearances (Smets, 2016). The Nigerian government initially instilled a hardline technique that eventually caused the group to become more violent and radicalized, especially when the government killed 17 of the group’s members during the Nigerian revolts. Realizing its misdemeanors of the past, the federal government has claimed it wants to transition to a more holistic approach to respond to the group’s militant acts. This new holistic strategy involves both incorporating force and counter-radicalization strategies, although few details are known about these new approaches (Smets, 2016).
The launch of the #BringBackOurGirls Movement by Obiageli Ezekwesili raised great domestic and international awareness of the Chibok incident (Bring Back Our Girls), although it is important to note that media coverage and awareness isn’t enough to solve the issue. It takes concrete initiatives, not just a hashtag, to make actual progress to rescue the remaining girls, apparent with the recent Red Cross and Nigerian government collaboration for negotiation. While international media coverage is important for awareness, the dependency on American and European networks causes news stories from Africa to be driven by those countries consumers’ interests, rather than the interests of African peoples (Louw-Vaudran, 2014). Many of these United States and European news networks tend to lose interest once their citizens do, and move on to cover other issues, disabling Nigerians and other people from neighboring countries the information they want on the Chibok incident. The international response was intense during the outbreak of the issue, but as time passed media networks definitely let the #BringBackOurGirls Movement fall into the shadows. The recent discovery of the 21 girls this past week have gained some traction in media coverage, although not as intense when the incident first occurred.
Nigeria’s local media networks have difficulty reporting on issues connected to Boko Haram because of the danger it ensues for local reporters, causing the dependency on foreign networks (Louw- Vaudran, 2014). Domestic media sources can only really report on the incident while collaborating with the Nigerian military, which sometimes the military is not willing to do. Reporting on the Chibok event is especially difficult for local reporters due to a history of resentment with the military, enabling international networks easier access, especially with more economic resources (Louw-Vaudran, 2014). The international media’s advantage within Nigeria displays how important it is on both a domestic and global scale. International media sources must implement their power more efficiently on the Chibok incident to offer both the international community and Nigerian citizens the important details they need. The international media at large has a great role in generating pressure on Boko Haram as well as on the Nigerian government to initiate concrete strategies to rescue the remaining girls.
The questionable domestic response from the Nigerian government and the growing disenchantment from the people have also brought about a rapid evolution of the group in recent years. Lately Boko Haram has begun to more frequently make use of suicide bombings and other guerilla tactics. The change in tactics being used by the group, as well as the spread of the insurgency into neighboring countries, serves to show that the group is far from dissolved, as remarks from the Nigerian president may imply. Recently, attacks from the group have spread into neighboring countries of Chad, Cameroon, and Niger, causing a growing refugee crisis (TVC News, 2016). It is crucial that the attention given to Boko Haram not end with the release of the girls but that the international community will take notice of the growing humanitarian crisis in Nigeria and surrounding countries as well. Foreign networks have the power to do more than just create international uproar over social media, but use their advantages to push for concrete changes in the Nigerian government’s domestic initiatives, and hopefully help bring an end to Boko Haram and its atrocities.
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