1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: This story contains adult content and language, along with references 2 00:00:04,280 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: to sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised. 3 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:16,600 Speaker 2: This is a deeply, deeply religious group of girls who, ultimately, 4 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:20,520 Speaker 2: regardless of the decision they made marry not marry, believe 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:22,920 Speaker 2: with their faith that they would make it whole. 6 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 1: I'm Kate Winkler Dawson, a nonfiction author and journalism professor 7 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:32,479 Speaker 1: in Austin, Texas. I'm also the host of the historical 8 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: true crime podcast tenfold war wicked On Exactly Right. I've 9 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: traveled around the world interviewing people for the show. I've 10 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:41,760 Speaker 1: interviewed some people in person and some from my home 11 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:45,760 Speaker 1: studio over zoom, and they are all excellent writers. They've 12 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:48,640 Speaker 1: had so many great true crime stories, and now we 13 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:51,559 Speaker 1: want to tell you those stories with details that have 14 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 1: never been published. Wicked Words is about the choices that 15 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 1: writers make, good and bad. It's a deep dive into 16 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:04,120 Speaker 1: the stories behind them stories I was just to say. 17 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: Is a journalist and author who wrote a book called 18 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: Beneath the Tamarin Tree about the mass kidnapping of more 19 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:14,200 Speaker 1: than two hundred teenage girls in northern Nigeria in twenty 20 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: fourteen that started the international movement called Bring Back Our Girls. 21 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: The terrorist group Boca Haram is responsible and almost half 22 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:26,520 Speaker 1: of the young women are still unaccounted for. I just 23 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 1: spoke to some of those who escaped. Set the scene 24 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:33,959 Speaker 1: for where we are in Nigeria and what it's like 25 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: for the people who live in the village, not just 26 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:37,600 Speaker 1: the young women. 27 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:44,040 Speaker 2: This story broke in April twenty fourteen. So first and foremost, 28 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 2: we're talking about a time where let's just set the scene. Atmospherically, 29 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:51,640 Speaker 2: it was hot, it was dry. We're talking about in 30 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:56,920 Speaker 2: northeastern Nigeria, which is well known for being much poorer 31 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 2: than the rest of Nigeria. They've not had the same 32 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 2: amount of resources pumped into it. So we're talking about 33 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:07,840 Speaker 2: an area that is resource to pride, where people are farmers. 34 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 2: They're making ends meet day to day, they're making choices 35 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 2: about who descend to school. This is a part of 36 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 2: the world that has the largest out of school population 37 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 2: in the world, over thirteen million children, the majority of 38 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:24,120 Speaker 2: among our girls. So this is a farming community. It 39 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:27,519 Speaker 2: is a poor community, but it is also a loving community, 40 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 2: which is something that is often maybe minimized in the 41 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 2: sense that people have lots of children, they live as 42 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:36,600 Speaker 2: a community. They love on their children, They do the 43 00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:39,440 Speaker 2: best they can. They share what they have with their neighbors. 44 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:43,079 Speaker 2: It is a deeply religious community, the community of Chiboc, 45 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:46,640 Speaker 2: and you know they are poor, but they have great spirit. 46 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 2: Nigeria in and of itself as a country, moving outside 47 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:54,240 Speaker 2: of Chebok in the northeast, and let's talk about Abuja, 48 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:56,959 Speaker 2: the seat of government at this point in time, has 49 00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:59,520 Speaker 2: good Luck Jonathan as a president, a man who has 50 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:04,360 Speaker 2: been assailed for not being a strong leader. And the 51 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 2: country is dealing with increasing attacks from Bokoharam religious extremists 52 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:13,960 Speaker 2: that have been terrorizing the country since the late nineties. 53 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:17,120 Speaker 2: And so there's a lot going on, and there's a 54 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 2: lot bubbling. There's a lot of fear, there's a lot 55 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 2: of instability in the north, and there's a lot of 56 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 2: looking at the central government to do more, to do 57 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 2: more to keep people safe. 58 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 1: Tell me about Nigeria's relationship with the United States at 59 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:35,360 Speaker 1: this point, does America even care what's happening with these girls? 60 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 2: The US government has always cared about what happens in 61 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 2: Nigeria because it goes back and forth between Nigeria and 62 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 2: South Africa. The largest economy on the continent. There's also 63 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:49,240 Speaker 2: a quite robust trade relationship between the two. The US 64 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 2: does export a huge amount to Nigeria. It's also a 65 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 2: large donor to Nigeria, a large aid donor. Nigeria itself 66 00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:00,680 Speaker 2: exports animal feed and things like that too the US, 67 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 2: so they care. They also care because, as you has 68 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 2: a very robust military and they're aware of extremism on 69 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 2: the rise on the continent, and there's always a concern 70 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 2: that if any extremist group takes hold or gains are footing, 71 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:18,279 Speaker 2: they may use it to plan attacks that could ultimately 72 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:21,039 Speaker 2: imperil the US. And of course we'd seen in Nigerian 73 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 2: involved in a terrorist attack with an attempt to bring 74 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:28,359 Speaker 2: down a plane over Detroit many years back, so it 75 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 2: was on the radar. 76 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:33,080 Speaker 1: Tell me what Bocahram up until this point has been doing. 77 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 1: What are the terrorists acts? What's the intimidation that is 78 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:39,159 Speaker 1: happening in this section of Nigeria. 79 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 2: It is mass attacks on schools and villages. It is 80 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 2: fighters riding in on motorbikes with guns. It is setting 81 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 2: fire to buildings, it is bank rades, it is attacking schools. 82 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 2: One of their central tenants has been. You know, Western 83 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:03,080 Speaker 2: education is bad and specifically target schools that educate girls. 84 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 2: And you know, if the schools aren't completely set alight 85 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:10,360 Speaker 2: and students injured or killed, sadly, it is to impart 86 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 2: the message to the girls that they find there, go 87 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 2: home and get married, do not be in school. So 88 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,479 Speaker 2: it is utter terror. At this point in twenty fourteen, 89 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:23,840 Speaker 2: dozens and dozens of schools are closed, Teachers are too 90 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:26,839 Speaker 2: afraid to be in classroom, schools have been set alight. 91 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:30,800 Speaker 2: I mean, it is just utter mayhem. And they're literally 92 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 2: just taking more and more control of parts of northeastern 93 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 2: Nigeria with the intention of building a caliphate in Islamic state. 94 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:39,600 Speaker 1: That's what I was going to ask. I know it's 95 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:42,279 Speaker 1: a really simple question, but what do they want to 96 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 1: suppress all other religions and to suppress other societies. 97 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:49,919 Speaker 2: Brograham is a complicated one because when Bograham started, Mohammed Yusuf, 98 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:52,960 Speaker 2: the founder of Bokoharam. When he started it, you could argue, 99 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:59,000 Speaker 2: was as a political resistance to what he saw as 100 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:05,599 Speaker 2: abject read malfeasance, corruption amongst elites in Nigeria, and also 101 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 2: a sense that the North, which is predominantly Muslim in 102 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 2: contrast to the predominantly Christian South, was being ignored and 103 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:17,680 Speaker 2: instead people were enriching themselves and there was this moral decay. 104 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:20,919 Speaker 2: So it started in some sense as a kind of 105 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:25,679 Speaker 2: resistance to that, but then became increasingly militarized and weaponized 106 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:28,279 Speaker 2: for a number of reasons, some of which actually inmost 107 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:32,400 Speaker 2: local politicians using them as a kind of force to 108 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 2: kind of target enemies or rivals. It's always the way 109 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 2: when they try and clamp down, it's already kind of 110 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 2: metastasized into something else. And then Mahamadusan became increasingly militant 111 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:46,840 Speaker 2: and increasingly with a view that what would fix all 112 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:49,600 Speaker 2: of this decay would be Islam. That's what they need. 113 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:52,960 Speaker 2: They need more Sharia. They have more Sharia, Islamic law. 114 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:55,560 Speaker 2: A lot of this stuff wouldn't be happening, and it 115 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:58,919 Speaker 2: just became more and more hardened. The government tried to 116 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:02,279 Speaker 2: tap down on them. Then they had this running battle. 117 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:06,520 Speaker 2: Yusuf was killed. Yusef was really murdered in detention. With 118 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:09,520 Speaker 2: his death, it's at the stage for that their new 119 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:13,320 Speaker 2: leader to he takes hold, and with that the organization 120 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:18,640 Speaker 2: now becomes this extremist terrorist force that is now launching 121 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:21,800 Speaker 2: mass attacks in multiple places at the same time. 122 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:26,239 Speaker 1: How had this affected this village up until this point, 123 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:30,040 Speaker 1: up until twenty fourteen. Is it fairly insulated or are 124 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:31,760 Speaker 1: they living in terror? Where is it? 125 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:35,600 Speaker 2: I mean everywhere is living in terror. Everywhere is terrorized, 126 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:40,400 Speaker 2: everywhere is unstable, everywhere is seeing attacks in and around 127 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:43,680 Speaker 2: the area. Chibok is a small town in the northeast, 128 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,360 Speaker 2: but surrounding towns were being attacked. It's in Borno State, 129 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:51,040 Speaker 2: which is actually the birthplace of Bokhara. The thing about Chiboc, 130 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 2: which is always interesting, but as I spoke to parents 131 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:57,760 Speaker 2: about what happened, is that even though there were attacks 132 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:02,240 Speaker 2: in and around Chiboc, the capital Madougri, which is where 133 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 2: Mohammed Jusuf was from and where Bokaram was actually born, 134 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:10,200 Speaker 2: had been attacked countless times, they felt safe. They were 135 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:14,000 Speaker 2: still sending their kids to school. They in some cases 136 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:16,800 Speaker 2: made decisions to take their kids out of other schools 137 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:20,080 Speaker 2: in other parts of the state and bring them to 138 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 2: Chibok because they thought they'd be safe in Chiboc. And 139 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 2: I've come to parents and said he never thought anything 140 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:29,640 Speaker 2: would happen. No, they didn't. I think it's important to 141 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 2: say that the day that Bokaram swept into Chibok scooping 142 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:35,560 Speaker 2: up the two hundred and seventy six girls, was the day. 143 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:38,520 Speaker 2: Like every other day. Parents went to the farm. They farmed, 144 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:42,760 Speaker 2: they brought back fresh produce, they cooked. Their daughters were 145 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:47,079 Speaker 2: in the government boarding school, and it was pretty straightforward 146 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:50,719 Speaker 2: if you speak to the girls themselves. They finished lessons, 147 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:54,280 Speaker 2: they went back to the dorms. Some sat outside and 148 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:57,040 Speaker 2: watched others play. Some of the girls were in dorm 149 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:00,679 Speaker 2: rooms studying. Because this took place time when they were 150 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:04,959 Speaker 2: preparing for benchmarket exams, the end of high school exams. 151 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:07,640 Speaker 2: But it was just a normal time because the majority 152 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:11,120 Speaker 2: of schools had closed. There had been heightened security in 153 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:14,160 Speaker 2: and around the school because of the threat of Bokuharam, 154 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:17,920 Speaker 2: but the governor of Borno State had decided that they 155 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:20,880 Speaker 2: would keep the school open so these exams could take place. 156 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:24,319 Speaker 2: They put a little bit more security around the school 157 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 2: and the girls would get up every day they would 158 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:28,440 Speaker 2: take these exams. They'd come back to their dorms, so 159 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:33,120 Speaker 2: they shared snacks. They joked someone was sleeping outside because 160 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:35,840 Speaker 2: it was really hot. They were goofing off, they were 161 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 2: charging their phones, they were being teenage girls. Just before midnight, 162 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:44,120 Speaker 2: some of the girls were back in their dorms, you know, 163 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:49,319 Speaker 2: falling asleep, and what they heard was this sudden explosion 164 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:54,360 Speaker 2: of gunfire, which they couldn't quite make sense of. Because 165 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:57,000 Speaker 2: the town is less than half an hour away from 166 00:09:57,000 --> 00:09:59,760 Speaker 2: the school that they could hear it quite clearly. Plus 167 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:02,320 Speaker 2: it was summer, it was dry, the air was then 168 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:06,040 Speaker 2: the sound traveled. They didn't quite know what was going on. 169 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:08,800 Speaker 2: But for the girls, the question that they had, and 170 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:10,800 Speaker 2: this is one of the things that I've always been 171 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:14,280 Speaker 2: struck by, was this debate that sprung up amongst them 172 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:17,320 Speaker 2: as to whether they should run, that they should flee 173 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,840 Speaker 2: the school, or they should wait until teachers turn up 174 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:22,679 Speaker 2: to tell them what to do. And so there was 175 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:26,480 Speaker 2: this massive conversation in various storms taking place. Some girls 176 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:30,560 Speaker 2: were packing bags, some girls were praying, but there was 177 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:32,800 Speaker 2: just this fear, what is going on. We don't know 178 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 2: what's happening. Some called parents, and by and large the 179 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:39,560 Speaker 2: girls decided that they would stay and wait until teachers 180 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:42,120 Speaker 2: came to tell them they should run or told them 181 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:44,520 Speaker 2: what to do. Teachers who never turned up because a 182 00:10:44,559 --> 00:10:48,120 Speaker 2: few teachers who were there to actually supervise the examinations 183 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:51,280 Speaker 2: had basically melted away into the dark when they two 184 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 2: hurt the gunfire. 185 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:56,000 Speaker 1: So there had not been some sort of an emergency 186 00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:59,680 Speaker 1: plan like you would with elementary school students and tornadoes 187 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:02,000 Speaker 1: here in the United States. There was nothing set up. 188 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:02,800 Speaker 1: That's interesting. 189 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:06,040 Speaker 2: You have to put it in a context for where 190 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:12,240 Speaker 2: this took place, in a place of you know, limited resources, 191 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:16,640 Speaker 2: in a place where schools are doing the bare minimum, 192 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:19,560 Speaker 2: you know they're doing the best they can, and that 193 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:24,000 Speaker 2: sense of duty of care. I don't think it had 194 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:26,679 Speaker 2: been thought through. I think the way they looked at 195 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:30,960 Speaker 2: it was their security here and so if anything happened, 196 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:33,600 Speaker 2: the security guards will deal with it. But there wasn't 197 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:37,920 Speaker 2: a protocol. In fact, what had happened and this worsn't. 198 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:41,720 Speaker 2: The situation, which I've always found really saddening, is before 199 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:44,640 Speaker 2: April fourteenth and twenty fourteen, when book cram stormed the school, 200 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 2: there had been a number of incidents that had frightened 201 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:51,720 Speaker 2: the girls. They thought they saw someone on the school grounds, 202 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 2: They thought that they had been intruders. Girls had run 203 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 2: off on those two occasions actually, and they had been pandemical. 204 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:03,439 Speaker 2: They were gathered at school assembly that you know days 205 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:07,480 Speaker 2: later and warned, you must not run if anything happens, 206 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 2: you must wait until the teachers come. You must not 207 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:13,199 Speaker 2: just give in to your fears. You are going to 208 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:17,359 Speaker 2: be fine. So they had almost been conditioned to say, 209 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:20,360 Speaker 2: if something happens, this is what we must do. We 210 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:22,840 Speaker 2: must just sit tight and someone will tell us what 211 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:23,600 Speaker 2: comes next. 212 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 1: So this is a little bit of an aside. But 213 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 1: what would the terrorism experts say would have been the 214 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:33,120 Speaker 1: best thing for them to do, knowing what then happened 215 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:36,040 Speaker 1: that they were taken. Would it have been better in 216 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:39,480 Speaker 1: the situation for them to run or did they simply 217 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:40,160 Speaker 1: do the right thing? 218 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:43,760 Speaker 2: I would assume that what the terrorism expert would say 219 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:47,559 Speaker 2: is like in any instance of you know, securing buildings 220 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:51,520 Speaker 2: or planes or environments with vulnerable groups, is you protect 221 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:54,400 Speaker 2: the space so that the threat never enters the space 222 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:59,760 Speaker 2: to begin with. Have a security perimeter that cannot be breached. 223 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:02,160 Speaker 2: In the event of the perimeters being breached, have an 224 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:07,319 Speaker 2: emergency contact that could be triggered so that help could 225 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:11,400 Speaker 2: come to you. You fleeing into the dark and not 226 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:14,560 Speaker 2: being sure of what you're running too presents a whole 227 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:17,000 Speaker 2: other set of problems, right, But the thing is there 228 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 2: was no security perimeter. There was a wall that surrounded 229 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:22,280 Speaker 2: the school with an old man who sat at the 230 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,720 Speaker 2: gate and fell asleep. They had two other like old 231 00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:29,520 Speaker 2: security guards who sat on a stool and knotted off. 232 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:33,920 Speaker 2: And there were no match for a force of hundreds 233 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:37,320 Speaker 2: of young men riding in with guns or motorbikes. 234 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:42,240 Speaker 1: So the girls are hiding, staying inside the building. The 235 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:46,040 Speaker 1: teachers who presumably could have helped, were gone. 236 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:51,040 Speaker 2: And they's brought some guidance, comfort, comfort, anything. 237 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:53,880 Speaker 1: So they're gone. The security guards sound like they're useless. 238 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:57,680 Speaker 1: These men come in. What happens, So at. 239 00:13:57,559 --> 00:14:00,640 Speaker 2: First a guy on a bike turns up and some 240 00:14:00,679 --> 00:14:02,959 Speaker 2: of the girls are outside, some of you know, in 241 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:07,000 Speaker 2: the very storm rooms. He comes in. He is dressed 242 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:11,880 Speaker 2: in Nigerian military fatigues kind of circles the compound, eyeing 243 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:17,079 Speaker 2: the state of play, pulls out, and then more come in, 244 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:20,720 Speaker 2: and really the first conversation they have at thee, the 245 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:24,440 Speaker 2: first exchange with a handful of these men basically tells them, 246 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:27,960 Speaker 2: don't worry with the Nigerian military. We're here to protect you. 247 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:30,600 Speaker 2: Just do what we say. Everything's going to be fine. 248 00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:34,400 Speaker 2: The girls don't think it's true. Some want to believe 249 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:37,440 Speaker 2: it's true, But some of the girls I've spoken to 250 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:41,840 Speaker 2: say things just didn't seem right going from what they 251 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:46,560 Speaker 2: were wearing. Some were in flip flops, some just looked tattered, 252 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:51,560 Speaker 2: Some had water bottles tied on string, so inconsistent, you know, 253 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:54,240 Speaker 2: even to young girls who aren't o fay with what 254 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:57,320 Speaker 2: security in military should look like. Just something was off. 255 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 2: And then moments later they just start seeing more of 256 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:05,240 Speaker 2: them stream in and things move to a point where 257 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:08,480 Speaker 2: they basically say who they are, that they are Bokoharam, 258 00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:10,600 Speaker 2: and they've been telling them not to be in school 259 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:13,880 Speaker 2: and now they are here. But the thing that I 260 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:16,360 Speaker 2: want to stress, you know, as we set the stage 261 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:19,760 Speaker 2: of what happened and the storming of the school and 262 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:22,240 Speaker 2: the girls thinking that it was people here to protect them, 263 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:24,960 Speaker 2: and then realizing that they now may be captives. Even 264 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 2: at that stage they weren't entirely certain of the scale 265 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:31,480 Speaker 2: of the threat because Bogorharam said to them, where are 266 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:35,040 Speaker 2: the boys, And what Bokharam was known for was targeting 267 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:39,720 Speaker 2: boys in schools. They would find them, they would kill them. Sadly, 268 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:41,320 Speaker 2: they would hack them to death. They would set them 269 00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:45,160 Speaker 2: on fire, just brutality aimed at boys. And often if 270 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:48,640 Speaker 2: they found girls, they would say go home and get married. 271 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:53,080 Speaker 2: So for the girls, they thought, okay, well this is bad, 272 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 2: but what's probably gonna happen is they're just going to 273 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:58,840 Speaker 2: send us home. So Bookrahma asked where the boys. The 274 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:01,800 Speaker 2: girls say, there aren't boys. The boys who do come 275 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:04,920 Speaker 2: to the school, which is you know, the Chickbok Government 276 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:09,400 Speaker 2: Girls School are day students. They only come during the day. 277 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:12,520 Speaker 2: They're no boys here, Boka Amazi, we don't believe you. 278 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:15,080 Speaker 2: They start going through the buildings looking for boys and 279 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:17,440 Speaker 2: now tell the girls sit down under a tree. The 280 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:21,000 Speaker 2: girls are just freaked out. These guys are now going 281 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:24,360 Speaker 2: through the school. They then say, where's the store with 282 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:27,280 Speaker 2: all your food items? They get two girls to walk 283 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:29,440 Speaker 2: them over to the store. They bust the door open, 284 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:32,960 Speaker 2: they clear it out of everything that's in there, the rice, 285 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:36,600 Speaker 2: the potatoes, whatever, the pasta, everything. And this is the 286 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:38,400 Speaker 2: point that I always want to make to people about 287 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:43,320 Speaker 2: the story. I believe this was a crime of convenience. 288 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:47,360 Speaker 2: It was an opportunity because they came looking for boys, 289 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:52,080 Speaker 2: They came looking to loot the school, but then they 290 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:54,640 Speaker 2: realized there were no teachers there and there's nobody to 291 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:57,040 Speaker 2: protect the girls and nobody to stop them from taking 292 00:16:57,040 --> 00:16:59,320 Speaker 2: them and the girls several of the girls have said 293 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,320 Speaker 2: to me they had a conversation between some of the 294 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:04,800 Speaker 2: Bokoharam members saying, well, what should we do with them? 295 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:06,600 Speaker 2: And some of them said, well, let's just put them 296 00:17:06,600 --> 00:17:08,919 Speaker 2: in the building and set fire into them. And so 297 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:11,200 Speaker 2: there's this debate going on what should we do, should 298 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:12,919 Speaker 2: put them in the buildings because they didn't come with 299 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:15,760 Speaker 2: the vehicles to cut them off. They tells you they 300 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:18,400 Speaker 2: didn't plan it. This is a group that is going 301 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:22,760 Speaker 2: around collecting boys as they go through towns and villages. 302 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:24,919 Speaker 2: The New York Times did a great piece on the 303 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:28,439 Speaker 2: boys of Bokoharam, talking about these boys that they brainwash 304 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:32,040 Speaker 2: and they they radicalize. So it was all about boys, 305 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:36,760 Speaker 2: in some cases teens, the matured through the ranks of Baram. 306 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:41,600 Speaker 1: So had there been violence against women specifically before this happened, Yeah, 307 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:44,560 Speaker 1: their sexual sexual assaults. Was this part of their plan? 308 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:50,000 Speaker 2: Bohoram had kidnapped women and girls before. What was striking 309 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:52,680 Speaker 2: about this was they never cut it off. Nearly three 310 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:56,200 Speaker 2: hundred of them, two hundred and seventy six to be precise. 311 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:58,000 Speaker 1: Was that everyone at the school, all the girls in 312 00:17:58,040 --> 00:17:59,200 Speaker 1: the school, or there was. 313 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:01,399 Speaker 2: All the girls were there to take exams. 314 00:18:02,119 --> 00:18:04,560 Speaker 1: How is that even physically possible? I mean, you corral 315 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:05,920 Speaker 1: them all, I guess with weapons. 316 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:08,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, of course. So they were setting fire to buildings. 317 00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:11,040 Speaker 2: So the girls are now watching buildings burn, and they're 318 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:13,560 Speaker 2: hearing these conversations around what we should just burn them. 319 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:16,880 Speaker 2: One of the commanders basically says, no, we'll take them 320 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:19,400 Speaker 2: with us. But they don't have vehicles to take two 321 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:22,120 Speaker 2: hundred and seventy six girls. So what they do is, 322 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:25,320 Speaker 2: while the buildings are burning, they say, up, up, up, 323 00:18:25,359 --> 00:18:28,400 Speaker 2: everybody out, everybody out. They're pointing their guns. They're saying, 324 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:30,720 Speaker 2: if you have a cell phone, throw it away. If 325 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:33,680 Speaker 2: you're caught with the cell phone, will shoot you. Let's go. 326 00:18:34,119 --> 00:18:36,320 Speaker 2: I've talked to girls who had no shoes on, they 327 00:18:36,359 --> 00:18:39,080 Speaker 2: were walking in their bare feet, and they just set 328 00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:42,119 Speaker 2: them up on this march, this a long march into 329 00:18:42,160 --> 00:19:01,119 Speaker 2: the forest. They just set them up on this march, 330 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:04,720 Speaker 2: this a long march into the forest. They walked some 331 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:07,880 Speaker 2: part of the way and then vehicles turn up which 332 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:11,200 Speaker 2: they've stolen from a local like Lorry Park. So it 333 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:14,240 Speaker 2: just again shows that they didn't come with a plant. 334 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:17,200 Speaker 1: How terrifying and how did the families find out about this? 335 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:19,119 Speaker 1: Are they are the girls' scheduled to come home at 336 00:19:19,119 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 1: a certain point the teachers. The teachers say something, I'm assuming. 337 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:26,000 Speaker 2: No, Actually, it's worse than that, because when they disappeared 338 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:29,320 Speaker 2: that night, when they marched them off into the darkness 339 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:32,320 Speaker 2: and set fire to the school, a lot of the 340 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:36,720 Speaker 2: parents who had fled their own homes in Hipoc Town 341 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:41,800 Speaker 2: had fled to a hill, a stone hill, where they 342 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:44,879 Speaker 2: were hiding. And so one of the parents told me 343 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:47,679 Speaker 2: that she was on the hill with her husband and 344 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:50,399 Speaker 2: they could see the school burning. And this is a 345 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:54,200 Speaker 2: particularly tragic story because this particular family, because it was 346 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:57,720 Speaker 2: exam season, they had taken their daughter's cell phone from 347 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:00,680 Speaker 2: her so she could concentrate on her studies, so they 348 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:04,160 Speaker 2: had no way of reaching her. There was a relative 349 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:06,480 Speaker 2: who worked at the school who was supposed to be 350 00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:09,960 Speaker 2: on the premises as part of this cultuary of teachers 351 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:14,440 Speaker 2: protecting and then guiding supervising exams. They called the relative. 352 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:18,159 Speaker 2: No response, They're up on a hill, they see the 353 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:22,440 Speaker 2: school burning, and so they hear the vehicles pulling out, 354 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:27,240 Speaker 2: They rush down from the hill and run to the 355 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:28,760 Speaker 2: school and find it deserted. 356 00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:31,879 Speaker 1: What do you do next? As a parent? You go 357 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:34,359 Speaker 1: to local government. Is there a police force? 358 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:40,119 Speaker 2: You whale and you weep, and you fall to bits, 359 00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:46,440 Speaker 2: and the community whales and weeps beside you, and military 360 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:51,159 Speaker 2: and police are dribbling in. You're asking where is my daughter? 361 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:54,120 Speaker 2: And their guess is as good as yours, because they 362 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:57,080 Speaker 2: too had melted away into the dark when boram hit 363 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:00,800 Speaker 2: the town in the case of several families, and in 364 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:05,480 Speaker 2: the blazing sun, waiting and hoping as you see some 365 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:10,040 Speaker 2: girls start to come back, some girls who's broken away? 366 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:12,600 Speaker 2: Because the thing to say is two hundred and seventy 367 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:15,480 Speaker 2: six girls were scooped up, but as they moved into 368 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:19,520 Speaker 2: the forest on foot and then eventually in vehicles, fifty 369 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:20,560 Speaker 2: seven escaped. 370 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:22,360 Speaker 1: Wow snuck off. 371 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:24,919 Speaker 2: At moments they snuck off. And so you're starting to 372 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:27,440 Speaker 2: see some of these girls come back, and you're hoping 373 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:29,720 Speaker 2: that your child will be the next to reappear. 374 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,040 Speaker 1: Sounds like a school shooting exactly. So these young men 375 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:36,960 Speaker 1: with Boka rum now have captives around two hundred. Is 376 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:39,480 Speaker 1: there a headquarters where do they take them? Is there 377 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:40,480 Speaker 1: a plan? There's no plan. 378 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:42,880 Speaker 2: No, no, I mean you know. Now they've got two 379 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:47,160 Speaker 2: hundred and nineteen girls and they take them for days. 380 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:52,240 Speaker 2: They're traveling in this convoy of vehicles, open back vehicles 381 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:56,879 Speaker 2: and a massive almost like dumpster truck that they've got 382 00:21:57,119 --> 00:22:00,000 Speaker 2: dozens and dozens of them in, sitting on each other, 383 00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:03,400 Speaker 2: sitting on top of the food they'd looted from the building. 384 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:08,440 Speaker 2: The girls are crowded in. They're going deeper and deeper 385 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:13,000 Speaker 2: as the vegetation thickens in some Beisa forests. They're getting 386 00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:16,840 Speaker 2: scratched by these branches that are closing in. They're hearing 387 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:18,919 Speaker 2: these strange sounds. This is a kind of a no 388 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:21,680 Speaker 2: goo space. It used to be actually a national park 389 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:24,840 Speaker 2: with lots of wild animals roaming through it. And for 390 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:29,080 Speaker 2: days they are just traveling. At one point they stop 391 00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 2: and tell the girls that the older girls among them 392 00:22:32,359 --> 00:22:35,080 Speaker 2: should take some of this food and cook to feed 393 00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:37,960 Speaker 2: the group. And while they're doing that cooking and the 394 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:41,080 Speaker 2: men are praying. It's at that point some girls snuck 395 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:45,640 Speaker 2: off on one of these stops. When the guys came 396 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:49,320 Speaker 2: back from prayers. The guys were suddenly struck by the 397 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 2: numbers that something wasn't quite right, and they're like, let's 398 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:55,320 Speaker 2: count you. Some girls are missing. Where are they. This 399 00:22:55,440 --> 00:23:00,000 Speaker 2: starts a whole escalating situation which is only broken by 400 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,239 Speaker 2: the fact that they hear people approaching. And what had 401 00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:05,640 Speaker 2: happened is you ask what the parents were doing. Some 402 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:07,600 Speaker 2: of the fathers had decided that they were going to 403 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:10,760 Speaker 2: go into the forest to look for their daughters themselves 404 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:14,159 Speaker 2: with bows and arrows and machetes. So they hear the 405 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:16,359 Speaker 2: voices and men they are like, well, okay, we can't 406 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:19,280 Speaker 2: get into this about who's missing. They just round them 407 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:21,119 Speaker 2: back up, stick them back in the vehicles, and say 408 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:23,760 Speaker 2: let's keep going. But about three days later they arrive 409 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:26,760 Speaker 2: at this camp which is you know, Bookoharam hide out 410 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:30,280 Speaker 2: deep in some Beisa forest. It's more kind of read 411 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:34,920 Speaker 2: it's the savannahs, it's dry. We're moving towards the Sahel, 412 00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:37,240 Speaker 2: so we're kind of moving into that kind of reddy, 413 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:42,879 Speaker 2: brown potch burnt those colors. And they see these shacks, 414 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:47,199 Speaker 2: these lean tos dossing the landscape, and they say to 415 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:50,560 Speaker 2: the girls, everybody out of the truck and go under 416 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:52,840 Speaker 2: that tree, and the girls are thinking, well, what do 417 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:55,880 Speaker 2: they mean go under that tree? And you know, two 418 00:23:55,920 --> 00:24:01,080 Speaker 2: hundred and nineteen, cramped and tired and distraught, climb out 419 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 2: and then they realize it's this massive tamar and tree 420 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:11,200 Speaker 2: with hooked branches and laden with leaves and fruit and 421 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:14,240 Speaker 2: drooping to the ground. And they're asking them to basically 422 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:18,200 Speaker 2: part the branches and go into the space. 423 00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:20,520 Speaker 1: What a visual And that's the name of the book 424 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:24,199 Speaker 1: Beneath the tamar And Tree. So they're going in with 425 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:26,320 Speaker 1: the expectation of what's saying hidden. 426 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:30,399 Speaker 2: Yes, that's exactly what the expectation is. In Chakau, the 427 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:34,040 Speaker 2: leader to Mohammad Yusuf's place in two thousand and nine, 428 00:24:34,119 --> 00:24:38,359 Speaker 2: Aba Bachau. Chakau was well aware of the boon of 429 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:41,119 Speaker 2: having these girls because he had seen the press that 430 00:24:41,119 --> 00:24:45,719 Speaker 2: had sprung up around these girls being taken. Celebrities were 431 00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:49,000 Speaker 2: tweeting about it. What do you do? You hold them close? 432 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:49,760 Speaker 2: You hide them? 433 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:53,359 Speaker 1: Were their demands? Was this a ransom situation? What was 434 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:55,800 Speaker 1: going to be the endgame with holding all of these 435 00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:56,280 Speaker 1: young women? 436 00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:59,360 Speaker 2: I think with Chaquau being the fact that everything we've 437 00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:02,119 Speaker 2: ever seen of it presents a man who's unhinged, but 438 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:05,280 Speaker 2: who wanted to send the message and who also must 439 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:09,000 Speaker 2: be said, spoke to the fact that the Nigerian government 440 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:15,240 Speaker 2: had taken into custody the wives and children of Bokoharam 441 00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:20,960 Speaker 2: members in the past, and had also obviously taken into 442 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:25,119 Speaker 2: custody a lot of Bokharam fighters. We see how it 443 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:27,639 Speaker 2: was a batter. I mean, that's eventually how it played 444 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:32,200 Speaker 2: out years later. But yes, and ultimately money. At that point, 445 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:34,720 Speaker 2: I think it was just they had the spoils. 446 00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:38,720 Speaker 1: I'm assuming the girls are saying, hopefully saying by saying 447 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:41,960 Speaker 1: to themselves, this has to end at some point? Does 448 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:43,439 Speaker 1: it end at some point? 449 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:46,439 Speaker 2: I mean they're taken April fourteen, twenty fourteen. In the 450 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:51,000 Speaker 2: weeks that followed, the girls mount mini acts of rebellion 451 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:53,400 Speaker 2: against their captors. For first of all, the whole time 452 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:56,080 Speaker 2: they're demanded when can we go home? The Chakau is 453 00:25:56,119 --> 00:26:00,600 Speaker 2: not there. They've got these various commanders and they're basically saying, 454 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:03,680 Speaker 2: we'll let you go home soon. But first and foremost, 455 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:06,119 Speaker 2: what was really important to bok Around was to convert 456 00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:09,720 Speaker 2: them to Islam, because Chibuka is a Christian town in 457 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:12,960 Speaker 2: the majority Muslim North almost immediately there's an issue of 458 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:16,879 Speaker 2: conversions and starting these Islamic classes for the girls. So 459 00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:19,120 Speaker 2: that's one of the first things that happens. They bring 460 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:21,680 Speaker 2: them notebooks and so you have to start taking Islamic classes, 461 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:24,000 Speaker 2: and the girls aren't doing anything. They take Islamic classes, 462 00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:27,600 Speaker 2: and then they sit around and as acts of rebellion 463 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:30,320 Speaker 2: they say things like we're not going to bathe, we 464 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:33,879 Speaker 2: are just not going to do it. And then my 465 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:37,240 Speaker 2: favorite story they tell is one night when it starts strain. 466 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:41,320 Speaker 2: As the weeks go by, they start screaming through the 467 00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:44,320 Speaker 2: night and the men turn up. I think, what's wrong, 468 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:46,639 Speaker 2: what's wrong, what's wrong, what's wrong? And they're just screaming 469 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:51,080 Speaker 2: to terrorize them because they're cold, they're aggravated, they want out, 470 00:26:51,119 --> 00:26:54,879 Speaker 2: and they're just screaming, all of them but bloody murdered. 471 00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:56,760 Speaker 2: They're like, we're going to just keep you everybody awake, 472 00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:00,320 Speaker 2: and they have these small acts of rebella, which I 473 00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:03,720 Speaker 2: just think are remarkable for these girls who have lived 474 00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:07,080 Speaker 2: in a culture that has infantalized them and silenced them 475 00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:09,399 Speaker 2: by virtue of being girls in a part of the 476 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:13,960 Speaker 2: world that is still governed by very conservative patriarchal norms. 477 00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:17,800 Speaker 1: Were they not scared of some sort of physical repercussions 478 00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:18,320 Speaker 1: for them. 479 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:21,439 Speaker 2: I spent time speaking to girls who were part of 480 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:24,160 Speaker 2: the first group of twenty one who were eventually released 481 00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:27,720 Speaker 2: in twenty sixteen, and at that point there were beatings 482 00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:30,000 Speaker 2: when some people tried to escape. There was a lot 483 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:32,679 Speaker 2: of threats. But I will also say it seems to 484 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:35,280 Speaker 2: me when you just look at it, Chakau was just 485 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:37,800 Speaker 2: very aware of the fact that the prize was in 486 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:41,440 Speaker 2: keeping them safe at that point. They're not trying to 487 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:44,480 Speaker 2: harm them or marry them off or violate. 488 00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:45,840 Speaker 1: Them because they want to trade them. 489 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:46,960 Speaker 2: They want to trade them. 490 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:50,560 Speaker 1: Are they actively working with the Nigerian government? 491 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:54,359 Speaker 2: One is never sure who in positions of power is 492 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:57,320 Speaker 2: a supporter of Boquharam. That's the allegation that is long 493 00:27:57,359 --> 00:28:00,919 Speaker 2: being made and that those forces may have scuppered an 494 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:04,760 Speaker 2: attempt to form a deal to get the girls released. 495 00:28:05,359 --> 00:28:09,040 Speaker 2: And Bokaram eventually moves them through the forest to different 496 00:28:09,119 --> 00:28:12,360 Speaker 2: locations and what ends up happening the real threat or 497 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:15,760 Speaker 2: another layer of threats starts when they move them from 498 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:19,880 Speaker 2: the tree, move them to another settlement, and the Nigerian 499 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:22,720 Speaker 2: governments as to bomb the forest as part of their 500 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:26,160 Speaker 2: efforts to win the war, and girls are injured. In fact, 501 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:28,120 Speaker 2: some of the girls right now I can tell because 502 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:30,280 Speaker 2: some of them are in a school in northeastern Nigeria 503 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:33,840 Speaker 2: are missing limbs or have shrapnels still embedded in their 504 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:36,720 Speaker 2: body from these eral attacks. 505 00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:40,000 Speaker 1: And this went from a couple of weeks and acts 506 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:45,000 Speaker 1: of rebellion to several years for at least this group 507 00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:48,080 Speaker 1: that you had access to. What are the stages that 508 00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:51,040 Speaker 1: they went through? Do you think is there an acceptance 509 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:54,760 Speaker 1: at some point just saying I'm in this situation, I 510 00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:56,760 Speaker 1: have to make the best of it. Or are they 511 00:28:56,920 --> 00:28:59,920 Speaker 1: in a constant state of how can I get out? 512 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:02,640 Speaker 1: How can I leave? How do I fight against this? 513 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:04,800 Speaker 2: I think it's all of those things at once, and 514 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:07,880 Speaker 2: it depends on the day. I think that when they 515 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:11,000 Speaker 2: eventually get to a place where they start pressuring them 516 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:15,400 Speaker 2: to quote unquote marry, those girls who made that decision 517 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:17,680 Speaker 2: just thought it was the best thing for them. I mean, 518 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:20,640 Speaker 2: one of the arguments that was made by this old 519 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:24,840 Speaker 2: guardian that was stationed with them was that if you 520 00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:27,760 Speaker 2: get married, then you can get home sooner, because then 521 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:30,280 Speaker 2: that would just your husband could let you go, like 522 00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:32,760 Speaker 2: they could do a deal and you could go, and 523 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:35,320 Speaker 2: your life's going to be easier if you get married. 524 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:39,320 Speaker 2: And so some of those girls made that calculation. It's 525 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:42,680 Speaker 2: not marriage, it's sexual slavery. But if they agree to 526 00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:46,680 Speaker 2: accepting one of their captors, that it would be a 527 00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:52,440 Speaker 2: better way to survive this. Some girls said absolutely not. 528 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:55,040 Speaker 2: I refused to do that, and I spoke to several 529 00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:57,880 Speaker 2: girls who maintained that they would not marry, and they 530 00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:02,800 Speaker 2: became this coachory of holdout that, interesting enough, never judged 531 00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:06,320 Speaker 2: the others for making the decision to marry. They just 532 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:10,600 Speaker 2: decided they just refused to do that. And the key 533 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:12,760 Speaker 2: part of all of this, I think, and this applies 534 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:17,200 Speaker 2: to even those who decided to accept one of their captors. Again, 535 00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:21,800 Speaker 2: there's no volition here, but this is a deeply, deeply 536 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:25,200 Speaker 2: religious group of girls, and so faith becomes an act 537 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:27,960 Speaker 2: of rebellion when they're in the forest and they have 538 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:31,440 Speaker 2: these secret prayer meetings, which were at one point discovered 539 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:34,600 Speaker 2: by their captors, who warned them they must never do 540 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:37,640 Speaker 2: such a thing because this is now their Christianity on display. 541 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:39,640 Speaker 2: But they would meet in the dark and they would 542 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:42,320 Speaker 2: sing these hymns and they would pray and tell each 543 00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:43,880 Speaker 2: other that they would be delivered. 544 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:48,120 Speaker 1: Sounds a bit like American slavery, right exactly exactly tell 545 00:30:48,200 --> 00:30:51,960 Speaker 1: me the way that this progresses. Is it twenty sixteen 546 00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:55,200 Speaker 1: where a group is released? Is that what happened? Tell 547 00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:56,680 Speaker 1: me kind of what happens there? 548 00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:59,760 Speaker 2: To date, one hundred and twelve girls are still unaccounted for. 549 00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:03,320 Speaker 2: So just to be clear that we're talking about one 550 00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:06,200 Speaker 2: hundred girls who have never returned but for the first 551 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:10,280 Speaker 2: twenty one. Suddenly they're being asked to move again, but 552 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:14,480 Speaker 2: this time now they're traveling for days. When they finally stop, 553 00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:19,400 Speaker 2: they're suddenly approached by a man in white and these 554 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:25,240 Speaker 2: other individuals, other Bookoharam fighters who suddenly asks who has 555 00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:28,400 Speaker 2: a piece of paper and a pen and just starts picking. 556 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:32,960 Speaker 2: And what we know from the outside is that there 557 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:37,920 Speaker 2: had been an attempt involving Swiss negotiators, and what they 558 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:42,320 Speaker 2: had negotiated was an initial release of twenty girls as 559 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:45,400 Speaker 2: a good faith gesture that they could actually do a 560 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:49,400 Speaker 2: deal for the rest eventually, and so it was twenty 561 00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:52,880 Speaker 2: and then they decided as a gift they would give 562 00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:56,320 Speaker 2: an extra girl. So that's how it became twenty one girls. 563 00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:58,840 Speaker 2: And I know the story from some of the girls 564 00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:01,200 Speaker 2: who were chosen. And really, the thing I always ask 565 00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:04,360 Speaker 2: people is to imagine, suddenly twenty one are leaving and 566 00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:08,840 Speaker 2: the rest are safe, and everybody is crying. Yeah, everybody's cry. 567 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:11,640 Speaker 1: It must have been almost just as difficult. Absolutely, how 568 00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:13,720 Speaker 1: did they choose the twenty one randomly? 569 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:16,600 Speaker 2: You know, as some people faith would say, myself included 570 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:18,920 Speaker 2: if it's your time, it's your time, like just randomly, 571 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:22,640 Speaker 2: no rhyme or reason. Suddenly they were loaded up in 572 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:26,800 Speaker 2: vehicles and being driven again for days and they had 573 00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:30,280 Speaker 2: no idea what was happening. And then they actually chose 574 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:35,400 Speaker 2: one girl who they asked to walk with a coucherie 575 00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:40,240 Speaker 2: of soldiers to the meeting spot and left the others behind. 576 00:32:40,280 --> 00:32:43,640 Speaker 2: It's kind of an insurance, and she went on ahead 577 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:48,280 Speaker 2: and then met the negotiators. I find it interesting that 578 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:54,240 Speaker 2: it seems so important to Bogharam to demonstrate with this 579 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:58,680 Speaker 2: one girl, Priscilla, that they hadn't been harmed while they 580 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:02,160 Speaker 2: were in captivity. And I have pictures of the girls 581 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:06,280 Speaker 2: when they're finally free in a safe space, having cookies, 582 00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:09,920 Speaker 2: and you can see the emaciated state and you can 583 00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:13,880 Speaker 2: see the bit draggled and just worn out by two 584 00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:17,120 Speaker 2: years in captivity. But again for context, this is only 585 00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:20,840 Speaker 2: twenty one girls. Two hundred and nineteen disappeared into the 586 00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:23,640 Speaker 2: forest and one hundred and twelve are still missing. 587 00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:27,200 Speaker 1: How did the remainder minus the one hundred and twelve 588 00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:28,280 Speaker 1: end back out? 589 00:33:28,480 --> 00:33:31,160 Speaker 2: Similarly, they did another deal, but this time what we 590 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:34,800 Speaker 2: know is money was exchanged. Critis who had been hell 591 00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:38,240 Speaker 2: captive were released in exchange for these girls. And the 592 00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:40,840 Speaker 2: thing about the story and what it says about Nigeria 593 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:47,800 Speaker 2: is the politicization of everything and the commodification of girls' lives. 594 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:50,960 Speaker 2: Part of the issue here is that the Nigeren government, 595 00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:53,520 Speaker 2: right at the beginning when this happened in April of 596 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:58,480 Speaker 2: twenty fourteen, refuse to believe that anything had happened. There 597 00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:01,000 Speaker 2: was this resistance that should think could have happened. And 598 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:04,040 Speaker 2: then even when there was the knowledge that something terrible 599 00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:06,640 Speaker 2: had happened, the sense and I have said this publicly 600 00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:09,360 Speaker 2: and I continue to say it and continue to lambast 601 00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:11,919 Speaker 2: them for it, I think there was just Jenning's sense 602 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:14,920 Speaker 2: of Okay, well, yeah, this really is shitty, but it's 603 00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:16,040 Speaker 2: a bunch of girls. 604 00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:18,320 Speaker 1: But that's not what the reaction was on social media, 605 00:34:18,360 --> 00:34:20,480 Speaker 1: which I thought was really interesting. What do you think 606 00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:22,080 Speaker 1: happened there? It was a phenomena. 607 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:24,760 Speaker 2: It was a huge miscalculation on the part of the government. 608 00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:27,160 Speaker 2: I mean, I think the Nigeran comman literally thought, they're 609 00:34:27,200 --> 00:34:31,439 Speaker 2: not just girls, they're poor girls. Things were poor parents, uneducated, 610 00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:33,600 Speaker 2: They didn't know what to do. So the Nigerian government 611 00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:35,880 Speaker 2: just thought, this story is just gonna die. Nothing's going 612 00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:38,040 Speaker 2: to happen, nobody's going to know about it or even 613 00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:39,080 Speaker 2: talk about it. 614 00:34:39,239 --> 00:34:43,959 Speaker 1: More collateral damage, exactly exactly. Now there are you said 615 00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:46,520 Speaker 1: about one hundred and twelve that are still out there? 616 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:49,080 Speaker 1: Is there an effort to get them back? Well, what's 617 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:51,640 Speaker 1: happening now? I mean we're talking seven years later at 618 00:34:51,640 --> 00:34:52,080 Speaker 1: this point. 619 00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:57,160 Speaker 2: I mean, so the thing to say about Nigeria right 620 00:34:57,200 --> 00:35:00,960 Speaker 2: now is and Nijunes would accept it if they were 621 00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:05,239 Speaker 2: being honest, those who choose to be honest or objective. Rather, 622 00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:10,839 Speaker 2: the country is besieged by a multitude of issues, not 623 00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:14,479 Speaker 2: just the Bookharan problem that remains as prevalent as ever 624 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:19,040 Speaker 2: in the northeast, but there rise in kidnappings for ransom 625 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:23,000 Speaker 2: in the northwest, that is happening that we've seen school children. 626 00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:25,400 Speaker 2: I mean to the point now where you can't even 627 00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:28,280 Speaker 2: really keep up with how many children are being swept 628 00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:32,520 Speaker 2: up for ransom. The middle belt of Nigeria is dealing 629 00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:38,200 Speaker 2: with cattle herders and pastoralists battle over grazing rights. That 630 00:35:38,360 --> 00:35:42,600 Speaker 2: is leading to a mass violence in farming and herding communities. 631 00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:46,480 Speaker 2: And what COVID has done to the economy, oh has 632 00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:52,400 Speaker 2: just left the country teetering. So the notion that these 633 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:55,800 Speaker 2: missing girls, who were already devalued right at the beginning 634 00:35:55,840 --> 00:36:00,520 Speaker 2: in twenty fourteen, are somehow top of mind for Nigerias. 635 00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:03,680 Speaker 2: I think it would be fair to say that's a stretch. 636 00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:08,799 Speaker 1: Do you think that your background your mother is from there? 637 00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:11,279 Speaker 2: Yeah, my mother's from there, my father's from there. Born 638 00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:14,040 Speaker 2: in England, I spent my formative years and curly and 639 00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:16,600 Speaker 2: from seven to sixteen, I consider it to be home. 640 00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:18,360 Speaker 2: I'm many things, but I'm African. 641 00:36:18,440 --> 00:36:22,320 Speaker 1: First. Did this make your reporting easier or harder? Because 642 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:25,440 Speaker 1: I know you went to Nigeria when this really was developing. 643 00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:28,239 Speaker 2: It made it more focused for me. The fact that 644 00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:31,120 Speaker 2: I'm African, the fact that I'm an African female, the 645 00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:34,120 Speaker 2: fact that I come from a family that prizes education 646 00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:38,239 Speaker 2: so greatly, the fact that my mother was raised in 647 00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:41,799 Speaker 2: a home of bigger means, comes from a place that 648 00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:47,680 Speaker 2: is not dissimilar from Chibok, barely any running water and electricity, 649 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:49,960 Speaker 2: and was able to transform her life by the power 650 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:53,080 Speaker 2: of education and give me the gift of education which 651 00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:55,160 Speaker 2: allows me to be sitting here and speaking to you. 652 00:36:55,719 --> 00:36:58,280 Speaker 2: The story meant so much to me in so many ways. 653 00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:01,400 Speaker 2: It certainly made it harder for the Nigerian government, who felt 654 00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:04,040 Speaker 2: that as an African and as an African female, it 655 00:37:04,200 --> 00:37:07,919 Speaker 2: was not my place to speak so boldly. I think 656 00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:10,120 Speaker 2: there were things that I said which to this day 657 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:13,479 Speaker 2: continues to rankle Nigerians, which I just don't think would 658 00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:15,320 Speaker 2: have bothered them if it had come from the mouths 659 00:37:15,320 --> 00:37:18,280 Speaker 2: of a white male or white female. 660 00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:20,800 Speaker 1: Criticisms I'm assuming, yeah, criticisms. 661 00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:23,600 Speaker 2: Nigerian spokesman did say to me on the air at 662 00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:26,799 Speaker 2: one point, Listen, sweetheart, what is. 663 00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:29,840 Speaker 1: This story about. What does it boil down to for you? 664 00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:33,239 Speaker 2: It boils anto poverty and gender. It boils down to 665 00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:35,920 Speaker 2: a sense that if you are poor and your female, 666 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:39,400 Speaker 2: your life does not matter. It just shows how expendable 667 00:37:39,640 --> 00:37:42,600 Speaker 2: life can be in certain parts of the world, and 668 00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:45,080 Speaker 2: that continues to trouble me to this day. And the 669 00:37:45,239 --> 00:37:49,680 Speaker 2: compact between governments and their citizenry is broken in far 670 00:37:49,760 --> 00:37:53,520 Speaker 2: too many places in Africa and in the developing world. 671 00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:55,560 Speaker 2: And you could argue right here, you know, in the 672 00:37:55,640 --> 00:37:59,600 Speaker 2: United States, if it had been daughters from wealthy families, 673 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:02,440 Speaker 2: that might have even undercut the fact that they were female. 674 00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:05,800 Speaker 2: But let's just go with wealth. I mean, a completely 675 00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:07,320 Speaker 2: different outcome to the story. 676 00:38:07,560 --> 00:38:10,040 Speaker 1: This story, to me is also so much if you 677 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:14,359 Speaker 1: look at the girls about endurance and survive and resilience 678 00:38:14,480 --> 00:38:16,120 Speaker 1: and community. 679 00:38:15,600 --> 00:38:20,080 Speaker 2: Community and sisterhood. And one of the girls who escaped 680 00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:23,840 Speaker 2: and wasn't held captive. She was taken, but she escaped 681 00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:26,560 Speaker 2: and the hours afterwards is in school here in the 682 00:38:26,640 --> 00:38:30,359 Speaker 2: United States, and I speak to her almost every week. 683 00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:34,440 Speaker 2: She is studying liberal arts and wants to use her 684 00:38:34,520 --> 00:38:38,520 Speaker 2: voice to be a reformer and advocate for other girls. 685 00:38:38,840 --> 00:38:41,759 Speaker 2: The fact that when April fourteenth comes around, this girl 686 00:38:41,760 --> 00:38:44,000 Speaker 2: here in the United States and the others who all 687 00:38:44,040 --> 00:38:49,680 Speaker 2: consider themselves to be sisters still weep and pray and 688 00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:54,000 Speaker 2: pine for those who have not returned, just speaks to 689 00:38:54,080 --> 00:38:56,279 Speaker 2: the bond of sisterhood that endures. 690 00:38:56,520 --> 00:38:59,040 Speaker 1: What is your hope with this story? Is it as 691 00:38:59,080 --> 00:39:01,160 Speaker 1: simple as we want one hundred and twelve back? 692 00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:03,759 Speaker 2: You know, the truth is we have one hundred and 693 00:39:03,800 --> 00:39:06,879 Speaker 2: twelve girls young women. Now they're not in girls, they're 694 00:39:06,920 --> 00:39:09,359 Speaker 2: young women. That's start there. I want one hundred and 695 00:39:09,440 --> 00:39:12,279 Speaker 2: twelve of them to be accounted for, those who can 696 00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:15,280 Speaker 2: return to be returned to their families, and I want 697 00:39:15,680 --> 00:39:19,800 Speaker 2: girls and schools to be protected. I want the education 698 00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:22,960 Speaker 2: of girls to be valued. That's what I want. I 699 00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:29,720 Speaker 2: want to count to building, and I want justice for them. 700 00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:31,800 Speaker 1: On the next episode of Wicked Words. 701 00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:35,839 Speaker 3: All of these were done on weekends. Two of them 702 00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:39,759 Speaker 3: were on holiday weekends. One was Columbus Day, one was 703 00:39:39,880 --> 00:39:42,959 Speaker 3: Labor Day. There's parts of the story that we start 704 00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:45,120 Speaker 3: to see a more complete picture. This was a person 705 00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:47,640 Speaker 3: who was conscientious enough they didn't take time off work 706 00:39:47,680 --> 00:39:50,040 Speaker 3: to go kill. They did it in their leisure time. 707 00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:04,560 Speaker 1: If you love historical true crime, please check out my 708 00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:07,440 Speaker 1: books American Sherlock and Death In the year this has 709 00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:10,759 Speaker 1: been an exactly right tenfold More media production Alexis and 710 00:40:10,800 --> 00:40:13,720 Speaker 1: Morosi is our producer. Andrew Epan is our sound designer. 711 00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:16,799 Speaker 1: Ellen Middleton is a researcher for us. Curtis Heath does 712 00:40:16,800 --> 00:40:20,120 Speaker 1: the composition, Nick Toga did the artwork, and Ilsa Brink 713 00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:23,839 Speaker 1: designed the website. The executive producers are Georgia Hardstark, Karen 714 00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:27,440 Speaker 1: Kilgarriff and Daniel Kramer. Follow Wicked Words on Instagram and 715 00:40:27,480 --> 00:40:31,120 Speaker 1: Facebook at tenfold more Wicked and on Twitter at tenfold more. 716 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:34,040 Speaker 1: If you are an advertiser interested in advertising on our show, 717 00:40:34,239 --> 00:40:37,120 Speaker 1: go to midroll dot com slash ads, and if you 718 00:40:37,120 --> 00:40:39,279 Speaker 1: know of a historical true crime story that could use 719 00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:42,520 Speaker 1: some attention from the crew at tenfold more Wicked, email 720 00:40:42,600 --> 00:40:47,000 Speaker 1: us at info at tenfoldmorewicked dot com. Listen, subscribe and 721 00:40:47,080 --> 00:40:50,400 Speaker 1: leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever 722 00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:51,600 Speaker 1: you get your podcasts.