Dear Lab Shul Community,

Please find words from two dear friends of our community and my partners in justice, R. Evon Idahosa, Esq., the Founder/Executive Director of PathFinders Justice Initiative, Inc. and and organiser for #BringBackOurGirls and Rev. Dionne Boissière is the Chaplain of the Church Center for the United Nations.

On April 14, 2014, 276 school girls were taken hostage by Boko Haram terrorists from their school in Chibok, Nigeria. 57 escaped on their own, leaving 219 captive. In October 2016, 24 of them were recovered, largely through negotiations by the Federal Government of Nigeria (21), and indirectly from various military operations mounted by the Nigerian Army (3). Then in May 2017, 84 more were also recovered through negotiations by the Federal Government. Subsequently, on December 1, 2017, another one of our Chibok Girls was found along with another abducted young woman. This brings the total of recovered Chibok Girls to 107, and leaves the parents and community of the 112 girls that remain in captivity extremely disappointed at their fate. You can see more HERE and check in on some of the rescued girls in this NY Times article.

Our global #BringBackOurGirls movement has advocated for the rescue of our #ChibokGirls by the Federal Government of Nigeria for over 1443 days. We believe the Chibok Girls are symbolic of the Girl Child in Nigeria and that the abduction and prolonged captivity of the remaining 112 girls have become an assault on girl child education, especially in the North East.

As we approach four years on April 14, 2018, we remain committed to seeing all our girls rescued, reunited with their families and given another opportunity to acquire the formal education they were seeking before their abduction.

Tomorrow, April 14, we ask that you pause for a moment, and sincere intention remember these precious girls. As we mark 4 long years of this travesty, let us turn our hearts in prayer together with those of other faith communities…and perhaps with the power of our collective prayers we can soften Pharaoh’s heart? Please feel free to utilize the multi-faith prayer we created for this moment in time.

Thank you for your continued support of this sacred work. Please continue to keep these young women and their families close to your heart and in your prayers. May their safe return become our collective reality.

– Naomi, Evon and Rev. Dionne