By Matt Hadro
CNA/EWTN News
“Sa’a,” was one of hundreds of Chibok schoolgirls abducted by the terrorist group Boko Haram on April 14, 2014. She testified Wednesday before the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations.
She said in her testimony that she dreamed of “a Nigeria where girls like me are not made into suicide bombers, and little boys are not routinely stolen and turned into terrorists. A Nigeria where (if) even the worst happens and children are stolen, every effort is made for their swift rescue, and those who can help, help, and those who can help can speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.”
Boko Haram, which means “Western education is sinful,” is a Nigerian Islamist militant group regarded as the deadliest terror group in the world. The group is responsible for attacks on villages, schools, and churches in Northern Nigeria, killing thousands of Christians and other Muslims in the last few years. After losing some of the land it controlled recently, the group has sent more children and girls on suicide bombing missions.
The group caused an international outcry in 2014 when it attacked a school in Chibok, Nigeria, and abducted 276 teenage girls. An international social media campaign started with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls trending on Twitter and Facebook.
Some 57 of the girls have escaped the group, but 219 of them are believed to still be in custody. Last month, 15 of the girls appeared alive in a video identifying themselves, obtained by CNN and reportedly filmed in December.
Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), chair of the subcommittee, lamented the plight of the kidnapped girls.
“Many of these schoolgirls are believed to have been forced to convert to Islam and married to Boko Haram fighters or prostituted by this group,” he said. “We now receive reports that some of them may be used as suicide bombers.”
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