Non-release of Chibok girls ‘a crushing blow’

CNN anchor Isha Sesay has spoken of her disappointment at expecting the release of the abducted Chibok girls after the announced ceasefire, only for the release not to materialise – a feeling she describes as “a crushing blow”.

According to CNN, sources had told Sesay that negotiations between the government and Boko Haram were getting somewhere and the group had agreed to a ceasefire, part of which meant the return of the girls to their families.

“Those girls were poor, from a remote part of Nigeria. The area has been long ignored, and the people there have gotten by on very little,” she said.

“They were just trying to get an education. But for the grace of God, I come from an educated family and my life has been different. It’s the power of education that has allowed me to become a CNN anchor. These girls were in school to change their circumstances.”

As reports of the girls’ prospective release heightened, Sesay travelled to Nigeria in anticipation.

Biut on arriving, she was surprised to learn from journalists who had extensively covered Boko Haram as well as those who knew about the sect’s operations that the release may not happen.

“They were suspicious, and doubted that the government was really in talks with the terrorists,” she said.

“There were other red flags. No one from Boko said anything about the supposed ceasefire. In fact, members remained active in northeastern Nigeria, and actually carried out more attacks and child abductions.”

Yet she nursed faint hopes that there was no chance the girls wouldn’t be freed.

“We wanted to believe,” she said. “We gave (Nigerian officials) the benefit of the doubt, I suppose.”

But all that ended on November 1, when ‘Abubakar Shekau’ released a video to deny both the ceasefire or a potential release of the girls.

“It was a crushing blow,” she said. “It was like he was saying, ‘This is done.'”

Before she left, she restated her commitment to telling the story of the abducted girls.

“We have to keep asking questions,” she said.

“We have set expectations low in terms of getting meaningful answers. That can’t continue.”