500 DAYS-1 YEAR +135 DAYS since the #ChibokGirls were kidnapped. Demand #BringBackOurGirls! We will not be silenced. pic.twitter.com/4WFGUsoM5Q
— Bringbackourgirls (@rescueourgirls) August 27, 2015
Relatives of the missing schoolgirls are expected to hold a youth march and candle-lit vigil in the Nigerian capital Abuja.
Muslim and Christian prayer services and a tree planting ceremony will also take place.
The Chibok schoolgirls’ ordeal began when Boko Haram fighters stormed their school in the remote town of Chibok, in the northeast Nigeria, on April 14th last year.
They have been twitting today’s events as the mark 500 days since the Chibok girls kidnapping.
At Ambode's door. We want him to carry our demand up to Buhari. #BRINGBACKOURGIRLS pic.twitter.com/zRl2N1nsdJ
— Ayo Obe (@naijama) August 27, 2015
Here are names & photos at the #500Days #BBOG march: are they phantoms? Mr @NGRPresident #500days is TOO LONG! pic.twitter.com/EYTZl6kTZr
— Ayo Obe (@naijama) August 27, 2015
Here are names & photos at the #500Days #BBOG march: are they phantoms? Mr @NGRPresident #500days is TOO LONG! pic.twitter.com/EYTZl6kTZr
— Ayo Obe (@naijama) August 27, 2015
Today marks 500 days since the #ChibokGirls were abducted by Boko Haram. #BringBackOurGirls! http://t.co/x1BoDdmLuM pic.twitter.com/gZRBnuk3we
— Sima Bahous (@unwomenchief) August 27, 2015
The Islamist rebels seized 276 girls. 57 escaped but nothing has been heard of those left behind since May 2014.
The mass abduction brought the brutality of the group’s 6-year insurgency into the global spotlight.
That sparked international criticism over how Nigeria’s government was handling the situation.
The BringBackOurGirls campaign demanding their release went viral on social media.
It attracted support from America’s First Lady, Michelle Obama, and many others who tried to fight for their release.
Activists are pinning their hopes on recently-elected President Muhammadu Buhari who said in May, Nigeria “could not have claimed to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls…”
The Nigerian military has said it knows where the girls are but has so far ruled out a rescue effort because it would endanger their lives.
Dozens of other kidnapped women and girls who have been rescued from the dense Sambisa Forest have returned pregnant, with stories of the horror they endured.
