From the East to the West,
North down to the South, the Slogan is “Bring Back Our Girls.”
Nothing short of the return of the school girls abducted since April 14 in Chibok Borno State is expected.
To this end Port Harcourt residents Wednesday took to the street to support the on-going campaign for the release of the over 200 school girls abducted in Chibok, Bornu State. With placards reading “Give Us Back Our Future Now”,”Destry The Beast of Boko Haram Now” hand “Bring Back our Girls”, the protesters called on the federal government to ensure the release of the girls.
At the Government House Port Harcourt, the secretary to the State Government (SSG) Mr. George Feyii, who received the protesters on behalf of the state Governor, assured them of the support of the executive Governor, toward the release of the girls to their families.
Meanwhile, the protesters had in their message to the federal government appealed for greater caution to avoid the nation slipping into anarchy given the looming fear over the security challenges in the country.
calls and appeals even ultimatums are released on daily basis to those concerned with matters of security to go beyond their limits and rescue these victims of circumstance.
Today, the slogan “Bring Back Our Girls’ has gone beyond the shores of Nigeria. It has  become a major hashtag in the social media. Why?, because the abduction of the over 200 innocent secondary school girls is outrightly a crime against humanity and a crime against humanity is certainly a crime against all irrespective of race and colour .
It is a national calamity, a pain borne by many and sorrow expressed by all. Apart from occasional sectorial calls by concerned  individuals and groups for release of the April 14 abducted girls in chibok, Bornu State, the concern has gradually taken an international dimension and who knows, where salvation could come from?
Biological parents of those innocent girls have cried their eyes out, they have staked their lives to  the rescue of their loved ones all these while to no avail. Calls, appeals and even ultimatums had been made and given to authorities incharge of Nigerians’ security to defend and rescue these girls.
Nigerian workers virtually turned the May Day Celebration into a day of mourning all in a bid to register their displeasure over the incidence and to press for the rescue of the school girls. Meanwhile the Patroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) boycotted this year’s May Day rally at the Eagle Square to identify with the pains and trauma of the parents of missing Chibok Students.
The recent declaration by the extremist militant group to sell its captives (the Chibok School Girls) has attracted the world’s attention and has further agitated as well as mobilised men and women from all walks of life in Nigeria to raise their voices against such inhuman act.
Protesters across Nigeria rallied last weekend to also draw attention to the plight of the girls.
It is barely a month now, victims of Chibok abduction have remained captives of an extremist militant group that has threatened to sell them into slavery. Minutes after the declaration of an intention to sell the abducted Nigerian school girls into slavery by their abductor, Abubakar Shekau, leader of the notorious Boko Haram sect, came another news that eight more girls from Warabe had been joined to the yet-to-be ascertained figure already in the captor’s net, isn’t it really disheartening?.
Pieces of bad news! Exclaims Chibundu Onuzu, a prominent Nigerian author who resides in London. What could be worst than living in an environment characterized by insecurity and acts of impunity by lawless inhuman beings who have  thrown caution to the winds.
What exactly is the bad news? Over 200 girls abducted yet to be found? Or eight more girls abducted under a heated-security- intensified outmosphere?
My worry is not jut that odd things happen, my worry stems from the fact that they happen where they  are guarded against any occurrence and inspite of the stiff security in place there could still be no traceable explanation to how it happened.
The latest kidnapping happened on Sunday night, May 4, in the village of Warabe, still in Borno State, the girls taken were aged between 12 and 15 according to BBC News.
However, more protest were staged Wednesday in Port Harcourt and Ilorin over the abduction of these girls with greater emphasis on bringing them back.
It will be recalled that on April 14, 2014 gunmen abducted over 200 secondary school girls from their dormitories at the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok.
New Yorker reports that militants dressed in  Military Uniform went into their dormitories and told their victims they were being taken to a safe place. They were placed in trucks and on motorcycles and driven away.
Ever since, the Twitter hashtag ‘Bring Back Our Girls’, has been trending at various points with many users from around the world demanding a swift rescue of the girls.
Although some of the girls have been taken across Nigeria’s borders to nearby chad and Cameroon to be sold into marriage-Associated Press, President Goodluck Jonathan is still optimistic that the girls will come back. In a chat with the press recently in Abuja, the president reassured Nigerians he must do everything possible to secure the release of the captured girls.

Port Harcourt residents demand release of the Chibok abducted girls in Port Harcourt, recently.

Sylvia ThankGod-Amadi