Freed Chibok Girl Appeals for Captives’ Release as UN Finds Nigeria Violated Women’s Rights

A decade after the Chibok schoolgirls abduction, a former captive has pleaded for the freedom of those still held by Boko Haram, just as a United Nations committee accuses Nigeria of grave and systematic violations of women’s and girls’ rights linked to multiple mass kidnappings.

“When I was in the hands of Boko Haram, I missed everything. I feel very sad for the girls who are still in captivity. My hope is that they regain freedom like us,” she said. “We know what it was like in there, so that’s why I want them to be free, so they can be with their parents.”

Her emotional appeal underscores a tragedy that continues to resonate within Nigeria and internationally, symbolising the enduring human cost of insurgency in the country’s northeast and the long road to healing for survivors and their families.

In September 2025, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) released a report stating that at least 1,400 students have been kidnapped from Nigerian schools since the Chibok abduction in 2014. The committee found Nigeria responsible for systematic violations of women’s and girls’ rights amid the wave of mass abductions.

“The abduction of the Chibok girls was not an isolated tragedy, but part of a series of mass abductions targeting schools and communities across northern Nigeria,” said Nahla Haidar, Chair of the Committee. “While such attacks had started earlier, Chibok marked the beginning of increased international attention of a decade-long pattern of mass abduction.”

The committee’s inquiry report was published following a two-week confidential visit to Nigeria in December 2023. During the mission, the CEDAW delegation visited the capital, Abuja, as well as Adamawa, Borno, Enugu, and Kaduna states. According to school staff, they were the first UN delegation to have visited Chibok Government Secondary School since the mass abduction in 2014.