13 Jul 2014

Malala meets schoolgirl campaigners in Nigeria

Pakistani campaigner Malala Yousafzai visits Nigeria to campaign on behalf of the schoolgirls abducted by rebel group, Boko Haram.

Teenager Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban, has travelled to Abuja in Nigeria to meet the relatives of schoolgirls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram three months ago.

She met with members of the activist group ‘Bring Back Our Girls’, formed by relatives of the kidnapped schoolgirls and activists, to give her support to the movement.

In April 276 schoolgirls were abducted in the north east town of Chibok. Dozens since escaped, but 219 of the schoogirls are still missing.

She told the group the girls “need our support, we need to raise our voices for them so that they can be released and they can be freed, as well as other girls in Nigeria – they also need food protection and security and they have many other challenges when they go to school”.

She added: “Thank you do much for telling the world that this is happening here, and not only just knowing but also to tell the world to stand up with you and to raise our voices for those girls”.

Malala was shot in the head by the Pakistani Taliban in October 2012. She was an outspoken critic of the Pakistani Taliban’s interpretation of Islam that kept women at home and barred girls from school.

Boko Haram means “Western education is sinful”, and the group has killed hundreds of students and attacked many schools.