AFRICA/ CARIBBEAN NEWS
NIGERIAN POLICE: 223 KIDNAPPED GIRLS
STILL MISSING
(CNN) -- Nigerian authorities specified on Friday May 2nd that a total of 276 schoolgirls
were taken last month by militants from a boarding school, but 53 of them escaped, leaving
223 still in the hands of their captors, police said.
Those numbers are higher than previously reported. Authorities had been saying about
230 girls were abducted in the dead of night at a high school in the country's northeast
region -- a hotbed for the Islamist group Boko Haram -- and roughly 200 of the girls were
missing.
Authorities quickly added that the new figure for missing girls -- 223 -- could grow as
police fill in spotty school enrollment records.
At a minimum, Friday's announcement provided a clearer picture of how many girls
are still missing.
"After thorough investigation by the police and other security agencies we have been
able to compile a list of 276 girls initially abducted from the school," said Lawan Tanko, the
Borno state police commissioner.
"Out of this number 53 were able to escape while 223 are still being held by the
kidnappers," Tanko said. "This list may not be exhaustive because there could be other
missing girls excluded because their parents may not have registered their names, which is
why we have made announcement calling on parents whose girls were missing at the school
to come forward and submit the name of their missing children."
On April 16, armed men herded the girls out of bed and forced them into trucks in
the town of Chibok. The convoy of trucks then disappeared into the dense forest bordering
Cameroon.
Angry Nigerians contend authorities are not doing enough. They took to social media
using hashtags #BringBackOurGirls and #BringBackOurDaughters to demand more from the
government.
But Nigeria's Defense Ministry said it's committed to the search.
Boko Haram's name translates to "Western education is a sin" in the local language.
The group especially opposes the education of women. Under its version of Sharia law,
women should be at home raising children and looking after their husbands, not at school
learning to read and write.
Human rights groups say the militants kidnap girls to perform chores and sexual
services.
PROLIFIC DIRECTOR AMAKA IGWE PASSES
ENUGU, NIGERIA - Foremost
producer, writer, director and
a leading player in the Nigerian
motion picture industry, Amaka
Igwe has passed. She died April
28th in Enugu after an asthma
attack. Mrs Igwe had gone to
Enugu with her husband for
pre-production preparations for
a new Igbo soap when the sad
incident occurred.
She suffered an asthma
attack and was immediately
rushed to the hospital after
initial intervention had failed but
sadly died before getting there.
Born Amaka Isaac-Ene,
Mrs. Igwe was an accomplished
writer, producer, director,
entrepreneur and teacher.
She is the founder of BoBTV
Expo, founder and CEO of Top Radio 90.9FM, Amaka Igwe Studios, and the newly-launched Q
Entertainment Networks.
A visionary and pioneer of modern Nigerian TV drama and film, she hit the national
limelight as the writer and producer of award-winning TV soap ‘Checkmate’ and its