SA Opinion on Response to Kidnappings as Amnesty Says Nigerian Government was Warned

As news comes this afternoon that the Nigerian Government apparently knew of Boko Haram’s planned kidnapping of over 240 schoolgirls from a school in Chibok…but failed to act, we publish (with permission) South African businessman and commentator Tshepo Motsitsi’s take on the lack of response from foreign governments  to try to rescue these girls.

Two hours ago Amnesty International announced that:

“Damning testimonies gathered by Amnesty International reveal that Nigerian security forces failed to act on advance warnings about Boko Haram’s armed raid on the state-run boarding school in Chibok which led to the abduction of more than 240 schoolgirls on 14-15 April.

“After independently verifying information based on multiple interviews with credible sources, the organization today revealed that the Nigerian security forces had more than four hours of advance warning about the attack but did not do enough to stop it.”

It’s been almost a month since the schoolgirls were kidnapped by Islamic militant group Boko Haram from the Chibok Government Secondary School in Nigeria.

After feeling that not enough was done by the Nigerian government or by foreign governments to assist in locating and rescuing these girls; outraged citizens of the world took to the internet  to create a social media storm raising awareness of the girls’ plight and putting pressure on government authorities to find these girls and bring them home safely.

The most popular hashtag on Twitter and Facebook has become #BringBackOurGirls, which was joined by #RealMenDontBuyGirls after Boko Haram announced at the start of May that they were planning to sell the girls. The campaigns have been hit with some controversy themselves after  photos of girls from Guinea-Bissau, who have no connection to the kidnappings, were used in the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. And the #RealMenDontBuyGirls campaign is using images from Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher’s anti-child-trafficking campaign from three years ago.

But even though the use of these images does raise concern about misrepresentation, their popularity in being shared right now – #BringBackOurGirls has been tweeted almost 2-million times around the world -shows how strongly citizens of the world want their governments to intervene and help these girls be reunited with their families.

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#BringBackOurGirls – A View from Gauteng resident Tshepo Motsitsi:

“The terrifying events in Nigeria surrounding the kidnapping of over 200 girls by a terrorist group should have gripped the world’s attention just as the disappearance of the Malaysian airplane did. In the case of the Malaysian airplane disaster 25 countries were involved and millions of dollars were spent in searching for a plane where the passengers were assumed dead. In the Nigeria situation vulnerable girls who are thought to be alive are not accorded the same urgency.

“The reason the same amount of effort and money isn’t dedicated to the search for the Nigerian kidnap victims comes down to money. Let me explain my logic.

“The aviation industry is worth billions of dollars and generates huge revenues annually. The thought of planes going missing would make people lose trust in the aviation industry, which would lead to a decline in revenue across the globe. The massive search effort and the reason for the dedicated media coverage focusing on the search was to assure people that should they get on a plane no effort will be spared to rescue them.

“One should also keep in mind that the aviation industry pays billions in taxes to governments. The possible loss in taxes should the aviation industry lose the trust of people spurred governments to act. Plus the amount of corporate pressure that the aviation industry is able to exert on politicians is immeasurable as the industry is a major contributor to election campaigns.

“So in short the Nigerian kidnap victims do not have a financial impact nor does the situation affect a corporate interest group that would lose money. Unfortunately the sad events in Nigeria are just another reminder that governments and politicians act only where money is involved.”

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Hopefully governments and politicians will act too now that the citizens of the world have spoken in such a loud and united voice and are putting pressure on them to #BRINGBACKOURGIRLS!!!!!!

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What can you do?

Source: From fb.com/bringbackourgirls

1. MAKE THIS IMAGE YOUR PROFILE PIC

2. Ask all of your friends to post this photo as their profile pic on Facebook, twitter and instagram. These girls are our daughters.

3. Include on your wall a link to the petition for people to sign asking The White House and World leaders to act.

Call or write to your government.
Change.org petition
1 http://chn.ge/1rukxYo

Change.org petition
2 http://www.change.org/petitions/over-200-girls-are-missing-in-nigeria-so-why-doesn-t-anybody-care-234girls

4. Join www.facebook.com/bringbackourgirls for news and updates.

#bringbackourgirls #stopthekilling