Pakistani rights activist
Malala Yousafzai, who survived being shot in the head by the Taliban for campaigning for girls' education, pledged while on a trip to Nigeria to help free a group of
schoolgirls abducted by Islamist militants.
On Sunday, Malala met parents of the more than 200 girls who were kidnapped by the militant group Boko Haram from a school in the northeastern village of Chibok in April.
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| Malala Yousafzai meets relatives of kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls |
Boko Haram, inspired by the Taliban, say they are fighting to establish an Islamic state in religiously mixed Nigeria. The group, whose name means "
Western education is sinful", has killed thousands and abducted hundreds since launching an uprising in 2009.
Some of the parents broke down in tears as Malala spoke at a hotel in the capital Abuja on Sunday.
"
I can see those girls as my sisters ... and I'm going to speak up for them until they are released.
I'm going to participate actively in the 'Bring back our girls' campaign, to make sure that they return safely and they continue their education." said Malala.
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| Malala's Makes a Birthday Wish in Nigeria |
Malala who turned Her 17th on Saturday is due to meet President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday.
Malala Day as announced by the United Nations to mark the birthday of Malala Yousafzai is also being observed globally today, Monday 14th July 2014.
UPDATE: 18:00(WAT): Malala has met President Goodluck Jonathan to press for more action to free at least 200 girls held by Boko Haram Islamist militants.
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| President Jonathan with Malala Yousafzai |
Malala who met Jonathan at the Presidential Villa in Abuja urged him to meet the families of the kidnapped girls.
According to
BBC in a statement after his meeting with Malala, President Jonathan said he would meet with the parents before they left Abuja "
to personally comfort them and reassure them" that the government was doing "all within its powers to rescue their daughters".
Reviewed by The Niger Times
on
3:09 pm
Rating:
Dawn columnist Huma Yusuf summarized three main complaints of Yousafzai's critics: "Her fame highlights Pakistan’s most negative aspect (rampant militancy); her education campaign echoes Western agendas; and the West's admiration of her is hypocritical because it overlooks the plight of other innocent victims, like the casualties of U.S. drone strikes
ReplyDeleteMalala you suppose to be in school.
ReplyDeleteYour presence in Nigeria is of no use. I dont get it at all.
Go to Pakistan and liberate other girls and stop being used by UK media to drive unproductive message. Your presence is a security threat to girls in captive because it will upset boko haram
Malala, you fought to be a student NOT a celebrity.
ReplyDeleteDo not get embroiled in what is non-existent. You supposedly fought to stay in school; Now you are more OUT of school than IN. Go back to school. The whole world knows as I am sure you do too, there was no chibok school girls kidnap so do not come here to insult us Malala.
If you need to give a talk on education, go to Pakistan, charity begins at home. Go to Pakistan, Nigeria has enough education conscious young Nigerian girls here to motivate their Nigerian 'sisters'. We do not need you.
This is insanity. For these girls to be missing for 3 months now, they should have been captured at this point. Britian, France and America are involved here which have large resources at their disposal. A 17 year old schoolgirl meeting with a Nigerian president isn't going to amount to a hill of beans. This is an international crisis of a massive magnitude that a child who is 17 years old can't solve nor has the knowledge to do so. What a joke.
ReplyDelete