BOKO HARAM KIDNAPS GIRLS FOR WIVES & SUICIDE BOMBERS - Supporting families while they await the return of their daughters

MEETING WITH THE MOTHER AND FATHER OF ONE OF THE KIDNAPPED GIRLS OF BOKO HARAM

The Inti Raymi fund first read the shocking news of Boko Haram (group aligned with ISIL in Northern Nigeria) when they kidnapped 276 young women from an upper level girls school in the rural community of Chibok, situated in northeastern Nigeria. We continued to read and follow this developing horrific story and hardship of these innocent young women being taken and converted to Islam from Christianity and being forcibly married off to Boko Haram solders, (basically being used as “soldier comfort girls”).

Some of the initial girls escaped and some were released through negotiations by local, national and international participants. From our initial introduction to this story, we continued to read as Boko Haram terrorized this region over and over again, burning villages, using young girls for suicide bombs in local food markets, and continuing to kidnapping more women and young girls. To-date, it is unknown the exact about; however, it is estimated that there have been roughly 400-500 girls taken with roughly 100-150 still missing. Additionally, there are an estimated 2 million people displaced from the region due to this regional terrorism and lack of security and or military and police support. One could argue this is a form of “land grabbing” by the terrorist participants and organizations, whereby land abandoned can be claimed by those terrorists who occupy and maintain the grabbed farmlands and homes. It should be mentioned that there is an “invisible” north/south line delineating the "Islamic dominated northern Africa" and the southern dominated Christian South" in the continent of Africa. This north-south line is a contentious “flash point” in Africa especially in northwest Nigeria, Cameroon and Central African Republic where we visited.   

For several years, the Inti Raymi Fund made numerous attempts to obtain visas to get into Nigeria for the #BBOG cause with no success. After being scammed for over $1,500 at the Nigeria Consulate in Kenya for visas and many political email requests we were very frustrated as no one was really willing to get involved with this geopolitical hot-topic. To obtain a visa, visitors from America are required to have sponsorship letters and references to help us get into Nigeria. Due to the religious tensions and fear of retaliation, people just didn’t return our calls.

Being realistic, we realized the best way to resolve this issue meant a military fight against Boko Haram which should be left up to the political leaders to aggressively address this terror in the north. Our second-best solution on how to help with this situation was to help the “collateral damage” and financially support the mothers, fathers and siblings of the kidnapped girls. Those left behind undoubtedly need support while they are spending time and resources searching for their daughters and continuing the protests to the government. These protests help maintain a sense of relevance for their missing daughters with the Nigerian government and with global human rights defenders.

As of our reporting of this story, it has been 4 and ½ years since the initial kidnapping and the government has all but abandoned the families and girls kidnapped. Keep in mind, from the governments’ perspective, as long as this story continues to be in the news and the mothers meet every Saturday for years in front of the “most expensive” and popular “5-star hotel” in the capital city of Abuja, Nigeria called the TransCorp Hilton, then this will continue to tarnish Nigeria’s ability to do business and raise capital investment “as usual” within the Oil sector and other business enterprises.  After years of holding posters with images of their daughters for government and business leaders to see in front of the TransCorp Hilton, they were and are now forbidden by the military and police to protest. (see our images of abandoned protest site). This shutdown of protest took the emotional wind out of the sails of the families, sending most of them either home back to their terrorist infested homelands or to new communities who would welcome these new families. Just for an economic point of reference, Nigeria appears to have an unofficial unemployment rate of probably 50%, with a huge percentage of the employed earning roughly $1.00 per day when they can find work.

WHAT THE INTI RAYMI FUND DID:

The Inti Raymi Fund approached this immensely painful situation with the utmost Respect and Dignity. Upon arrival into Nigeria, we put out our feelers with all of the local contacts we had to see if anyone was still in touch with any of the forgotten and abandoned girls’ families. After five days, we were fortunate enough to find one family who was still living in Abuja, whereas most families had painfully moved back home to their region or elsewhere to restart their lives with or often without their daughters. Keep in mind, uprooting a very low income agrarian family from northeastern Nigeria, means losing everything, including their farm and animals to start anew trying to get a job in an already impossible economic situation in Nigeria.

We were fortunate to interview and film this incredibly emotional encounter of “coming and sharing the only thing we knew we could offer” and that was money.  Money allows this family to survive and to do “whatever was important for them” to sustain their hope for the return of their daughter. Further, money provides shelter and care for their other six children who still need continued care while this tragedy continues to go on and on with its painful uncertainty of their daughter’s whereabouts.

Words cannot express the emotional impact of this encounter. It was an incredibly rewarding yet painful experience for us and them, to be able to “do what we could” to help this family survive. Additionally, to see the emotional breakdown and gratitude by both the mother and father with them knowing we truly care and sympathize with them, felt indescribable. If you are interested in viewing this emotionally impactful encounter, please contact us.

For the family’s safety against theft and or retribution, we have kept the family’s names and faces anonymous. Specifically, we provided this family of nine members (2 parents +6 children + 1 missing daughter) with $2,500, which equates to roughly 10 years of income. This "lifeline" allows the parents to Respectfully live and nurture their remaining 6 children and to be in a position to pay for and provide their educations which are predominantly private pay in Nigeria.

If you remember this news cause and it resonates with you, you can do something about it and get involved through the Inti Raymi Fund. World leaders such as Michelle Obama and Malala have spoken out about the #BBOG (Bring Back Our Girls) cause. We ask you to contact us directly for information on how you can give directly to these families to provide them hope, Dignity and Respect and a better future they try to provided to their remaining family members.