It has been two years since the shocking kidnapping of hundreds of school girls by armed Boko Haram militants.
Two years since the girls were stolen from their families.
Two years of waiting.
Two years of heartbreak.
Two years of silence.
But today CNN has released a chilling video, showing some of the captives who have survived and the lifeless bodies of many others following an air strike by Nigerian armed forces.
Heartbreakingly, some parents have been able to identify their daughters from the grainy footage.
Mrs Esther Yakubu and her husband, Kawo Yakubu told reporters that their daughter, Dorcas Yakubu, was one of the girls in the new video.
“Seeing my baby standing with a terror[ist] with … ammunition around his neck is not easy for a mother,” Mrs Yakubu told CNN.
“But I also give thanks to God almighty. They say most of the girls are dead but mine is alive.”
At a Bring Back Our Girls meeting following the video’s release organisers critisised the lack of action by the African government in rescuing the girls.
There have also been calls from African church leaders and terrorism experts for the West to pay more attention to the attacks amid warnings that Boko Haram may expand into Europe and elsewhere.
According to The Guardian, the lack of attention to previous Boko Haram massacres is likely down to a few factors.
Firstly, the nearest journalists are hundreds of kilometres away and media have been targeted by the terror group. There are also very poor and sometimes non-existent internet connections and communication in the region.
But perhaps the most uncomfortable suggestion is that racism plays a part: that African lives and news are less important. As Simon Allison, of the Daily Maverick, puts it, “it may be the 21st century, but African lives are still deemed less newsworthy – and, by implication, less valuable – than western lives”.
Boko Haram, which often flies the same or a similar flag to Daesh (also known as ISIS, ISIL or IS), blames Western education for Nigeria’s corruption, immorality and poverty.
