NIGERIA: Demonstrators in Nigeria's capital protesting against the kidnapped schoolgirls call on the government to put an end to the spate of violence sweeping through the northern parts of the country .

Record ID: 236776

  • Title: NIGERIA: Demonstrators in Nigeria's capital protesting against the kidnapped schoolgirls call on the government to put an end to the spate of violence sweeping through the northern parts of the country .
  • Date: 30th May 2014
  • Summary: ABUJA, NIGERIA (MAY 30, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING (English): "BRING BACK OUR GIRLS NOW AND ALIVE" VARIOUS OF BANNERS HUNG ON POLES, READING (English): "RESCUE OUR CHIBOK GIRLS NOW AND BRING BACK OUR GIRLS NOW AND ALIVE" PROTESTERS SEATED/WEARING SHIRTS WITH INSCRIPTION, READING (English): "BRING BACK OUR GIRLS" PROTEST LEADER ADDRESSING CROWD (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRING BACK OUR GIRLS CAMPAIGN COORDINATOR, OBY EZEKWESILI, SAYING: "It necessitates that the president as the commander in chief should sit with the security team and to review the operational strategy. You know, if all of the measures that they did announce including when the president told us from far away Paris that additional 20,000 soldiers have been put on the ground close to the scene of terrorism and then we still see this level of escalation it shows that maybe the operational strategy would need some reflection." VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS BEING ADDRESSED BY PROTEST LEADER FEMALE JOURNALIST FILMING PROTEST PROTESTERS SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR, CENTRE FOR DEMOCRACY AND DEVELOPMENT, JIBRIN IBRAHIM, SAYING: "We do feel that there hasn't been sufficient commitment in the fight against terrorism and the terrorists have been emboldened. We are all extremely alarmed at the escalation of the terrorist activities and the limitations of the responses by government; we do hope that given the president's message to the nation yesterday there will be some sort of attempt to relaunch an effective struggle against terrorism." VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS SINGING NATIONAL ANTHEM
  • Embargoed: 14th June 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Crime,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA79EB6TNNFP0KXAXXK68NN4E1K
  • Story Text: Demonstrators in Nigeria's capital protesting against the kidnapped schoolgirls on Friday (May 30) called on the government to put an end to the spate of violence sweeping through the northern parts of the country.
    Hours before the protesters gathered for their daily sit-in protest in Abuja, news spread of the killing of a traditional Muslim emir and two policemen in northeastern Nigeria.
    On Thursday (May 29), in the northeastern village of Gurmushi, near Nigeria's border with Cameroon, suspected Islamist gunmen riding motorbikes killed 32 people.
    Coordinator of the "Bring Back Our Girls Campaign", Oby Ezekwesili said Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, needs to revise the government's strategy in handling terrorism.
    "It necessitates that the president as the commander in chief should sit with the security team and to review the operational strategy," she said. "If all of the measures that they did announce including when the president told us from far away Paris that additional 20,000 soldiers have been put on ground close to the scene of terrorism and then we still see this level of escalation it shows that maybe the operational strategy needs some reflection."
    Jonathan said on Thursday (May 29) he had ordered a full-scale operation against Boko Haram and sought to reassure parents of the 219 schoolgirls still being held by the group that their children would be freed.
    Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development, Jibrin Ibrahim said he was shocked at the near daily attacks going on in northern Nigeria and little efforts by the government to put an end to it.
    "We do feel that there hasn't been sufficient commitment in the fight against terrorism and the terrorists have been emboldened, we are all extremely alarmed at the escalation of the terrorist activities and the limitations of the responses by government," he said. "We do hope that given the president's message to the nation yesterday there will be some sort of attempt to re-launch an effective struggle against terrorism."
    Boko Haram has been kidnapping schoolgirls and forcing them to become "brides" for commanders for more than a year, but the attack on Chibok last month shocked the world and prompted an international effort to free them.
    Since April 14, when the girls were taken, at least 500 civilians have been killed by the militants, according to a Reuters count.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register