It's Been 200 Days Since Boko Haram Kidnapped 200 Girls. Nigerians Have Not Stopped Protesting

It's Been 200 Days Since Boko Haram Kidnapped 200 Girls. Nigerians Have Not Stopped Protesting
FILE - In this file photo taken Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014, people demonstrate calling on the Nigerian government to rescue girls taken from a secondary school in Chibok region, in the city of Abuja, Nigeria . Days after Nigeria's military raised hopes by announcing Islamic extremists have agreed to a cease-fire, Boko Haram is still fighting and there is no word about 219 schoolgirls held hostage for six months. Officials had said talks with Nigeria's Islamic extremist rebels would resume in neighboring Chad this week, but there was no confirmation that negotiations had resumed by Wednesday. (AP Photo/Olamikan Gbemiga File)
FILE - In this file photo taken Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014, people demonstrate calling on the Nigerian government to rescue girls taken from a secondary school in Chibok region, in the city of Abuja, Nigeria . Days after Nigeria's military raised hopes by announcing Islamic extremists have agreed to a cease-fire, Boko Haram is still fighting and there is no word about 219 schoolgirls held hostage for six months. Officials had said talks with Nigeria's Islamic extremist rebels would resume in neighboring Chad this week, but there was no confirmation that negotiations had resumed by Wednesday. (AP Photo/Olamikan Gbemiga File)

Activists in Nigeria marked a date they hoped would never come. On Friday, it's been 200 days since Boko Haram militants kidnapped more than 200 girls from a school in the country's northeast.

The schoolgirls went missing on April 14, when Boko Haram militants raided their Chibok boarding school. On Oct. 17, the Nigerian government raised hopes of their return by announcing a ceasefire with the insurgents, but militant attacks have continued unabated and the schoolgirls remain in captivity.

In the Nigerian city of Lagos, activists rallied on Friday for the return of the girls, as well as the dozens of other people abducted by Boko Haram in the months since. Just last week, some 30 boys and girls were reportedly kidnapped by the militants.

The man behind the #BringBackOurGirls campaign -- which brought global attention to the Chibok kidnappings -- lamented that the world's focus has shifted since the start of the campaign. "But we here in Nigeria and a few others outside haven’t moved on," Ibrahim Abdullahi told The Guardian earlier this month. Every day, public protests and private vigils continue around Nigeria to remember their plight.

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