JINHA

NEWS CENTER – Today, on the one-year anniversary of Boko Haram's kidnapping of 267 schoolgirls from the Nigerian city of Chibok, women will be marching in Nigerian capital Abuja and elsewhere to protest a year of inaction by the Nigerian government and the international community.

One year ago, Nigeria abducted 267 schoolgirls from the city of Chibok. Women and the families of the girls started the #BringBackOurGirls campaign to fight for the return of the girls, an event at the time ignored by public opinion. One year into the campaign, while some girls escaped through their own devices, there is still no word from many.

At the time, the Nigerian government did not release an official announcement until two weeks after the event, with then-President Goodluck Jonathan saying the matter would be resolved in a few weeks. The international countries who pledged to help have also shown no action. Boko Haram has continued to abduct women and girls, forcing them into marriages, sex slavery, housework and other tasks. The group has abducted over 2,000 women and girls since the beginning of 2014.

While new President Muhammadu Buhari ran in the elections on the basis of the discontent with Goodluck Jonathan, the people of Nigeria are not optimistic and the campaign is continuing to struggle as much as ever.

After a year of nearly daily #BringBackOurGirls actions in Abuja, the families of the girls and their supporters will hold a march today, with 216 girls marching in a procession to symbolize the 216 Chibok girls who are still unknown.

The BBC recently received multiple reports from women who escaped Boko Haram in the city of Gwoza, who said a group of around 50 of the Chibok girls are being held there in the city Boko Haram treats as its "capital." However, the Nigerian government has taken no action. Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau claims the girls have converted to Islam and been married off.

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