- Title: NIGERIA: Establish fund for Boko Haram victims U.S. Congress members
- Date: 15th June 2014
- Summary: ABUJA, NIGERIA (JUNE 15, 2014) (REUTERS) DELEGATION TAKING SEATS TWO GIRLS WHO ESCAPED BOKO HARAM SITTING IN AUDIENCE DELEGATION STANDING AND ADDRESSING AUDIENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) RANKING MEMBER, HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE, U.S. CONGRESSWOMAN SHEILA JACKSON LEE, SAYING: "Today we call upon the government of Nigeria to establish a national victim's fund for all of the victims who have suffered at the hands of Boko Haram: for the girls who are still missing, for the girls who escaped, for their families, for the father who came and spoke to us about his missing daughter and he could hardly speak for tears were coming into his eyes." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE LISTENING TO ADDRESS JACKSON-LEE SPEAKING HANDS OF DELEGATION MEMBER (SOUNDBITE) (English) REPRESENTATIVE ON EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE COMMITTEE, U.S. CONGRESSWOMAN FREDERICA WILSON, SAYING: "Everyone around us has a responsibility to find these young girls and we cannot. I refuse, I refuse to give up until we find all 270 plus young women who were kidnapped from a school." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS CAMERAMAN FILMING VARIOUS OF DELEGATION DEPARTING
- Embargoed: 30th June 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nigeria
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA36IA883499TB8FET68MGJ0HWE
- Story Text: Four United States Congress members on Sunday (June 15) called on the Nigerian government to establish a national relief fund for everyone who has suffered in the hands of Islamist militants, Boko Haram.
The congressmen present in Abuja were Steve Stockman, Sheila Jackson Lee, Frederica Wilson and Lois Frankel.
"Today we call upon the government of Nigeria to establish a national victim's fund for all of the victims who have suffered at the hands of Boko Haram: for the girls who are still missing, for the girls who escaped, for their families, for the father who came and spoke to us about his missing daughter and he could hardly speak for tears were coming into his eyes," Jackson Lee, a ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said.
Boko Haram abducted more than 200 girls in April from a school in the village of Chibok in northeast Nigeria. They are yet to be released.
"Everyone around us has a responsibility to find these young girls and we cannot. I refuse, I refuse to give up until we find all 270 plus young women who were kidnapped from a school," Congresswoman Frederica Wilson said.
Some of the schoolgirls abducted by militant group Boko Haram may never return home, Nigeria's influential former president Olusegun Obasanjo said, in some of the most pessimistic comments yet on their fate from a member of the country's elite.
The girls' plight has shone the international spotlight on a violent 5-year-old battle for an Islamic state by insurgents who have killed thousands since 2009. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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