One of the students kidnapped by Boko Haram

One month has passed since the 276 Nigerian girls were kidnapped and fell into the hands of the Boko Haram rebels. It was 14 April when the students were kidnapped from the female college of Chibok, in the northeast of the country. The girls then reappeared some days ago in a video recorded by the guerrillamen. 


In the video we see nearly 130 of them, wearing hijab and long dark suites, while chanting Koran verses. Then came the threat of the leader of Boko Haram Abubakar Muhammad Shekau, who thunders: “They won't be released until you free our jailed brothers”.
 Following the broadcast of these images, the Nigerian government said they want to start negotiations with the extremists for the release of the girls, while the US sent deonws to help the rescue operation task force. One year ago President Goodluck Jonathan had declared the emergency state in the country in the areas of Borno, Yobe and Ademawa, but this did not stop the violence of the fundamentalists.


 What strike us in these events is not only the brutal treatment of the girls, 
but also the symbolic meaning of this abduction. Unfortunately it is not the first time that such an action is performed against Nigerian students - in the past few years thousands students were kidnapped, but due to the fact that they were captured in small groups, the public opinion was unaware of. The attack against schools does not happen by chance, but is instead the symbol of the savagery of the Islamist terrorists, for whom women's education is an evil to eradicate. Education is the strongest weapon against Boko Haram against such extremist movement. 


This was reminded months ago by Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani woman assaulted by the Talibans for he struggle in favour of education, during a speech at Harvard: “When nobody talks and the entire world remains silent - said the girl - also a lonely voice takes up a great strength. Let's remember that even just one book, pen or teacher can change the world.”.Here is why the act of violence perpetrated by Boko Haram on the students is also a terror act. Educations makes it possible to girls to emancipate, to escape the control of the extremists by rebelling against the terror strategy. This is why Boko Haram - whose name can be translated as "Western education is a sin” - wants to stop from the very beginning the educational path of these girls, out of fear of what those women may become. Only a nation in which girl have access to education can raise a people that is able to escape the domination of fundamentalists and control the strength of these movements. Don't let these girls alone. #BringBackOurGirls