#BRINGBACKOURGIRLS

 

April 15, heavily armed terrorists stormed a boarding school filled with high school girls in northern Nigeria. Several hundred girls were herded into vehicles and then vanished.

 

The extremist behind the kidnappings are a group called Boko Haram, whose name in the Hausa language means "Western education is a sin".

 

These girls were brave in seeking an education. Schools in the area were closed in March to protect them from terror attacks. When the school was reopened for the girls to take their finals Boko Haram took advantage of the opportunity and raided the school. These young girls ranging from ages 15 to 18 were expected to move on to become teachers, doctors, lawyers.

 

Now they are being auctioned off to become "wives" of militants. And what has the Nigerian government done? Nothing.

 

About 50 girls were able to escape but 276 girls are still missing.“We are now asking for world power countries to intervene,” the father of a missing 18-year-old girl, Ayesha, said. Parents of the missing girls are now relying on the United States and the United Nations to help them get their daughters back.

 

"While there has been a major international search for the missing people on Malaysian flight MH370, and nonstop news coverage, there has been no meaningful search for the even greater number of missing schoolgirls" columnist Nicholas Kristof stated in the New York Times.

 

 As of this moment it is unknown whether or not China, Great Britain, or France will take any action. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington will "do everything possible" to support the Nigerian government return the girls to their homes. It has been reported that this moment the Pentagon has not received a request for military help, but that if they do receive a request help would most likely come in the form of law enforcement or FBI help.

 

These girls are in danger just because they wanted an education. Not many of us in the United States think about how lucky we are to receive an education. Yes, there are flaws in our education system but at least it is open to all of us. Hearing about incidents like this makes me think about all the people I have seen taking their education for granted. People literally die trying to get an education. So when you are procrastinating on your school work or are annoyed by your teacher's harsh grading system, think about these 276 Nigerian girls who risked it all for an education.