Mandela’s widow meets Chibok girls’ parents in Lagos

Graca Machel, widow of the late former South African President, Nelson Mandela, on Friday, met with parents of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls in Lagos, in a meeting organised by the Murtala Muhammed Foundation to support the parents as they battle the trauma caused by the April 14, 2014 incident.

BBC reports that more than a year after the Boko Haram sect abducted 219 Chibok girls, Machel met with some of the girls’ parents, urging them to remain strong.

Seventeen of the girls’ parents have died since their abduction, but Machel, who is a prominent child rights activist, said she usually speaks about the girls wherever she goes.

According to her, “The world had not forgotten about the girls. I shook hands with all of you and feel what is in your blood. I share the pain with you of not knowing when the girls will come back,” Machel reportedly told the parents.

She also urged Nigerians and the International Community to do more to free the missing girls.

Though the Nigerian Army has rescued hundreds of hostages from Boko Haram, none of the kidnapped schoolgirls have been found.

On efforts made to mount pressure on the Federal Government to find and rescue the abducted girls, the leader of the Bring Back Our Girls Group, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, said the group had met with Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo.

“Hope makes not ashamed and so we stand on. We demand on,” she said.