WASHINGTON — Demonstrators surrounded the Embassy of Nigeria on Tuesday to demand the government of that country do more to rescue schoolgirls kidnapped by militant extremists.
Wearing T-shirts with the marking “276,” the number of teenage girls Boko Haram kidnapped last month, about one hundred protesters chanted and held signs demanding the girls’ return.
“It’s time to hold the Nigerian government accountable for what’s going on, what has been going on in Nigeria that goes unnoticed by the world,” says Omolola Adele-Oso, who helped organize the rally through social media.
“We want the Nigerian government to stop acting like Boko Haram is running the country,” she says.
The extremist group, whose name means “Western education is forbidden,” has threatened to sell the teenage girls.
News reports on Tuesday indicated the group had kidnapped eight more girls in northeastern Nigeria.
“For me it’s very personal, and it hurt me so much,” says a woman who is from the village of Chibok. “Our sisters cannot feel free to go to school anymore. Who would want to go to school and be kidnapped?”
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