A big hello to everyone :) :)

I hope you all are doing great?

It's been a good few days since I last posted. Today's post may seem a little bit solemn however its a topic that we should all be made aware about as its real and its so sad.

Today's post will be about the Chibok school girls who got abducted 6 months ago precisely on the 14th of April 2014. I read an article last night on the BBC news page titled '

Escaping Boko Haram: How three Nigeria girls found safety'

Read the full article here

Upon reading this article it brought all sorts of emotions to mind about how these innocent girls are coping many of whom are currently as we speak being subjected to inhumane acts and being made to do things against their will. I have a 14 year old sister and you that may be reading this too may have younger siblings I actually can't imagine my little sister or your little sister being forced and held captive and being subjected to crazy things :(

At the end of the article it was relieving to see that the 3 girls who had escaped had now found safety and are back at home. But what does this mean for the other girls who are still held captive and don't know their fate or if they will ever come out alive? :(

If you've never heard about the Chibok school girls here's a brief summary below. For those of you who are aware of the situation here's a reminder:

On the 14th April 2014 276 innocent schoolgirls were abducted by the Islamic Jihadist and terrorist organization based in North East Nigeria from the Government Secondary school from the town of Chibok in Borno state.
On the night of the 14th April a group of militants attacked the Government Girls secondary school in Chibok, Nigeria.
They pretended to be guards telling the girls to get out of the school and to follow them, they were lead away and loaded onto trucks through the forest. Some have managed to escaped and have been able to detail some of the ordeals they were put through.
Since the abduction most of these girls have been forced to convert to Islam and into marriage with members of Boko Haram paying a a menial ''bride price'' sum of ₦2,000 each ($12.50/£7.50) to the families of these girls
Many of the students were taken to neighbouring countries, Chad and Cameroon
Some of the villagers have seen some of the girls living in the Sambisa Forest. This forest has been reported to be a huge refuge for Boko Haram
On 5 May, a video in which Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau claimed responsibility for the kidnappings was released. He claimed that "Allah instructed me to sell them...I will carry out his instructions." and "Slavery is allowed in my religion, and I shall capture people and make them slaves." He said the girls should not have been in school and instead should have been married since girls as young as nine are suitable for marriage.
It has been 6 months since the abduction. On the 17th October 2014 hopes were raised that the remaining 219 girls might soon be released after the Nigerian army announced a truce between Boko Haram and Government forces however this hasn't come into actualisation.
The extremist group is against the Westernisation of Nigeria to which they attribute the root cause of criminal behaviour in the country.
Boko Haram has been known to kidnap girls as they believe they should not be educated but rather used to cook or be Sex slaves.

Plenty has been written about Boko Haram and the threat it poses. However there is very little known about the abuse endured by these women and girls in captivity such as:

Forced labor
Forced participation in military operations
carrying ammunition or luring men into ambush
Forced marriage to their captors
Sexual abuse including rape
Being coerced to cook, clean and perform other household chores
Some have served as porters and are still serving as porters
Majority have been targeted for abduction because they were students, Christians or both.

According to the Human rights watch publication report

''From June through August 2014, Human Rights Watch interviewed 30 individuals who were abducted by Boko Haram between April 2013 and April 2014, and 16 others who witnessed the abductions. The victims, including 12 students of the Chibok School who escaped from Boko Haram custody after they were abducted, provided further details of the abuses they endured. The women and girls described how they were abducted from their homes and villages while working on the farms, fetching water, or attending school. The victims were held in eight different Boko Haram camps that they believed to be in the 518-square-kilometer Sambisa Forest Reserve and around the Gwoza hills for periods ranging from two days to three months''. Read the full report here
Since the kidnap back in April there have been various campaigns all over the world to show support even from the First Lady Michelle Obama and many other celebrities.

David Cameron

First Lady Michelle Obama

P Diddy

Big Sean- Rapper

The Pain for the families of the abducted girls is still ongoing many of the girls still don't know when they will be reunited back with their families. Many have tried to escape and as a result of escaping have been killed along the way. Most of these innocent girls are still innocent and have had their innocence exploited.

We must continually pray for these young girls and hold them close to our hearts and pray that some sort of amicable solution will be reached to free these girls and the many more who we don't even know about.

Lets all say a little prayer for the Chibok girls. At least most of us can say we will be going home to our parents this evening but for them they may be going 'home' to perform wife duties at the age of 14.

''A 15-year-old girl who was held in a Boko Haram camp for four weeks in 2013 described being forced to marry a militant more than twice her age. “After we were declared married I was ordered to live in his cave but I always managed to avoid him. He soon began to threaten me with a knife to have sex with him, and when I still refused he brought out his gun, warning that he would kill me if I shouted. Then he began to rape me every night. He was a huge man in his mid-30s and I had never had sex before. It was very painful and I cried bitterly because I was bleeding afterwards.”

Pray for the chibok girls <3 xxxxxxx