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Bring Back Our Girls activists blocked from meeting Buhari

Bring Back Our Girls activists blocked from meeting Buhari

Nigeria

Activists of the ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ (BBOG) campaign were on Monday blocked by police from accessing the Aso Villa, seat of the presidency, to meet President Buhari.

Subsequently, the group held the day’s sit-out, a daily meeting of activists to remember the abducted girls and pile pressure on government to rescue them at an intersection leading to the presidency.

Reason for the procession

The group has in the past undertaken such processions to the presidency. Their latest march comes in the wake of the new video released by Boko Haram sect barely a week ago.

BBOG tagged Boko Haram’s latest release as the #PleaForRescue video and had served notice of marching to the presidency after the video was released.

#BringBackOurGirls Holds #Sitout at the Villa intersection after being stopped by security agencies pic.twitter.com/J1sDvRwbgS

— #BringBackOurGirls (@BBOG_Nigeria) August 22, 2016

Participants and requests

Nigerians from all walks of life joined the march which was widely publicized through BBOG’s social media handles. They carried placards that called for action from the government.

Some of the inscriptions read, ‘Mr President, no more delay,’ ‘Mr. President, when are you visiting Borno?’ and ‘Mr. President, Decide NOW!’

Boko Haram’s request from latest video

The latest video shows a masked Boko Haram fighter addressing parents of the abducted girls and the Nigerian government with a dozen of the girls lined up behind him.

He tasks parents of the girls to pile pressure on the federal government to release ‘their brothers’ held in prisons across the country so that they will also release the girls. One girl is allowed to address her parents and the government later in the video.

The spokesman also admits that some of the girls have been killed as a result of air strikes by the Nigerian Air Force.He went on to say some of the girls had been married off, while others were seriously sick.

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