The hashtag attracted global personalities such as Michelle Obama who tweeted , “ Our prayers are with the missing Nigerian girls and their families . It ' s time to # BringBackOurGirls . – mo ” 29 , and CNN ’ s Zain Asher whose tweet , “ At a school in Nigeria interviewing teachers about school safety after kidnappings # bringbackourgirls # cnn ” 30 , expressed offline impact of the advocacy . These examples demonstrate social media ’ s unparalleled capacity to extend the reach of feminist ideology to gain attention for the issues on the ground beyond national borders . The hashtags made possible the connections of these activists with their international counterparts who were able to provide the necessary media attention that was important in sustaining the struggle and pressurising the government to ensure the safe return of some of the missing girls .
Central and Accessible Space for Awareness , Dialogue and Negotiation
The # ArewaMeToo campaign is yet another instance where feminists in Nigeria successfully employed social media – this time as a strategy to engage , negotiate and educate society on cultural practices that promote sexual violence and the everyday struggles of the Nigerian woman who lives in fear of being sexually violated . Originating from Nigeria ’ s conservative North , this movement encouraged women to tell their stories of sexual harassment and violence in a sociopolitical environment that had mostly clamped down on women that dared to voice out over such issues 31 . To exemplify this , gender equality advocate Maryam Awaisu endured state repression for using the # ArewaMeToo to share stories of sexual violence against women in northern Nigeria and to expose a rapist . Her arrest by the government led to this tweet by Amnesty International , “ Maryam Awaisu is a women ' s rights activist pursuing justice for victims of sexual violence under # ArewaMeToo movement . After exposing an alleged rapist she was arrested by # SARS on 19 Feb . 2019 & whisked to Abuja where she was detained and
59