NIGERIA: Protesters place placards at a busy Lagos traffic junction, showing the names of some of the schoolgirls abducted by Islamist insurgents
Record ID:
236682
NIGERIA: Protesters place placards at a busy Lagos traffic junction, showing the names of some of the schoolgirls abducted by Islamist insurgents
- Title: NIGERIA: Protesters place placards at a busy Lagos traffic junction, showing the names of some of the schoolgirls abducted by Islamist insurgents
- Date: 9th May 2014
- Summary: LAGOS, NIGERIA (MAY 9, 2014) (REUTERS) BRIDGE AND GRASSED AREA OF TRAFFIC ROUNDABOUT / PROTESTERS PLACING PLACARDS ALONG FENCE VARIOUS OF WOMAN CHANTING AND HOLDING PLACARD READING (English): "THANK YOU DAVID CAMERON! PLEASE BRING BACK OUR GIRLS" VARIOUS WOMAN WITH MICROPHONE, HOLDING A PAPER WITH LIST OF NAMES, CHANTING (English): "BRING BACK ESTHER, BRING BACK MEIMUNA!" PAPER WITH LIST OF NAMES OF MISSING GIRLS (SOUNDBITE) (English) CO-ORDINATOR OF THE ANTHONY FATAI-WILLIAMS FOUNDATION FOR PEACE, MARIE FATAI-WILLIAMS, SAYING: "If this is there as a visual impact to people, they will know and remember that this problem is on, even if we've gone to bed. People that are coming round at night will see the question marks, will see the silhouettes of the girls, will know that they are still missing because this roundabout is never like this. So, until they find them and they are brought back, this will remain and it will be a visual impact that sends a message across north, south, east and west of the world." TRAFFIC DRIVING / PLACARDS PLACED AROUND ROUNDABOUT
- Embargoed: 24th May 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nigeria
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAC1MGPPMFH3UW6OJCSWUNV24BH
- Story Text: Dozens of residents in Nigeria's commercial city, Lagos, held a peaceful protest on Friday (May 9) to call on the government to rescue over 200 schoolgirls abducted by Islamist group, Boko Haram, last month.
The Nigerian government's slow response to the crisis has stirred global outrage and led to protests in Abuja and Lagos as well as other cities around the world.
The names of the kidnapped students have recently surfaced on various social media platforms and Lagos demonstrators added them to their protest banners on Friday.
The protest march made its way to a busy traffic junction in the city where demonstrators chanted the names of the missing girls. They also placed their placards at the junction to catch the attention of motorists.
Protester Marie Fatai-Williams said the placards, showing question marks and the names of the missing schoolgirls, were intended to make a "visual impact".
"If this is there as a visual impact to people, they will know and remember that this problem is on, even if we've gone to bed. People that are coming round at night will see the question marks, will see the silhouettes of the girls, will know that they are still missing because this roundabout is never like this," she said.
President Goodluck Jonathan promised on Thursday (May 8) to find the girls, but he has admitted he does not know where they are, and the military is struggling to tackle its security woes in the turbulent northeast as Boko Haram grows bolder.
British experts arrived in Nigeria on Friday to advise the government on how to find and rescue the schoolgirls.
Militants stormed a secondary school in the village of Chibok, near the Cameroon border, on April 14, and kidnapped the girls, who were taking exams at the time.
Fifty have since escaped, but more than 200 remain with the insurgents. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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