Ten Years Lost: UN Says 91 Chibok Girls Still Missing, Nigeria Guilty Of Systemic Failures

By HALIMA TAKWAS

TEN years after Boko Haram’s mass abduction of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok, Borno State, at least 91 girls remain missing or in captivity, according to a damning new report by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

The committee’s findings, released after a confidential two-week mission to Nigeria in December 2023, paint a bleak picture of persistent rights violations, state failures, and systemic neglect of survivors.

Grave Violations and Lasting Trauma

CEDAW accused Nigeria of “grave and systematic violations” of women’s and girls’ rights, citing repeated mass abductions by Boko Haram and other armed groups. Survivors continue to face stigma, untreated trauma, and limited access to education or healthcare.

Testimonies revealed harrowing ordeals: inadequate food, forced conversions, coerced marriages to fighters, sexual violence, and children born in captivity. Even those who escaped often could not return home, facing rejection from their communities and little to no rehabilitation.

“These girls were failed twice,” said committee chair Nahla Haidar. “First, when they were abducted, and again when many were abandoned after escaping, left without care, education, or community acceptance.”

A Wider Crisis Beyond Chibok

While the 2014 Chibok abduction drew global outrage, the report stresses it was only the beginning of a decade-long wave of kidnappings. Since then, over 1,400 students have been abducted across northern Nigeria, often for ransom, trafficking, or forced marriages.

The inquiry extended beyond Boko Haram to abductions by other armed groups, finding consistent patterns of torture, sexual abuse, and extortion of families forced to sell assets to pay ransoms.

Government Response Under Fire

The UN delegation — which visited Chibok Secondary School, IDP camps, and met with state officials — criticised Nigeria’s lack of sustained action. While 103 girls released through negotiations received psychosocial support and scholarships, those who escaped on their own were largely abandoned.

CEDAW also faulted the government for ending negotiations for the 91 girls still in captivity and for failing to:

• Criminalise abduction and marital rape nationwide.

• Protect schools and communities despite repeated attacks.

• Destigmatise survivors, especially rape victims and their children.

Calls for Urgent Action

The committee urged Nigeria to resume rescue efforts for the missing Chibok girls and all abducted women, adequately fund the police, and prioritise school safety. It recommended comprehensive rehabilitation for survivors, including counselling, education, and reintegration support.

“The fate of the 91 girls is a painful reminder of unfinished justice,” said Haidar. “The world must not look away.”

The report, available online, is the first UN mission to directly assess conditions in Chibok since 2014.