Nigerian Cardinal pleads for action to find kidnapped schoolgirls
Cardinal John Onaiyekan of Abuja has called for “concrete action” to save the hundreds of girls kidnapped by Boko Haram, saying his country is “ashamed” by the failure to find them.
“Up until now we are hearing practically nothing concrete on the issue,” Cardinal Onaiyekan told Vatican Radio May 6. “I think almost every Nigerian is taken aback. We cannot explain what is happening.”
“It’s still more baffling that our president seems to be impotent. We have to see concrete action.”
Nearly 300 girls, most of them aged between 16 and 18, were kidnapped on April 14 from their boarding school in Borno, Nigeria's northeastern-most state, by members of the radical Islamist group Boko Haram.
Boko Haram, which means, “Western education is sinful,” launched an uprising in 2009 and hopes to impose sharia law on Nigeria. It has targeted security forces, politicians, Christian minorities, and moderate Muslims in Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north. There are 276 girls still in captivity, while 53 escaped, the Associated Press reports.
The schools in the area had been closed due to the threat of Boko Haram, Cardinal Onaiyekan said there was supposed to be security at the school, which had temporarily reopened so that the girls could take final exams.
“The soldiers who were there could not face the group of terrorists that invaded both the town and the school,” the Cardinal reported.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has claimed responsibility for the abductions and has threatened to sell the girls into slavery, threatening more attacks on schools.
A May 5 attack on another town in Borno, in which some 300 persons died, was attributed to Boko Haram. The previous day, another 11 girls were kidnapped in an attack on two villages.
Cardinal Onaiyekan noted the “unprecedented” demonstrations by Nigerians seeking the return of the girls.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations stated May 5 that “It is almost impossible to express the level of disgust felt by American Muslims at the un-Islamic and obscene actions of the terrorist group Boko Haram for the kidnapping and threat to 'sell' hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls.
We urge authorities in Nigeria and throughout the region to do everything they can to return the girls safely to their families and to eliminate the threat to peace and security posed by Boko Haram.”
Editors Note: As we go to press the school girls have not yet been released, please keep them in your prayers.
Mission Intention for June
That Europe may rediscover its Christian roots through the witness of believers
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