When 19-year-old Amina Ali Darsha Nkeki was found near the Sambisa forest in northern Nigeria, it was a moment of triumph and delight for everyone concerned about the fate of the schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram two years ago.

Most of all, it was time of relief for her family – and one of hope for the relatives of the hundreds of teenagers still missing.

But soon the euphoria of that moment turned to farce as the young woman emerging from two years in captivity became the subject of political point-scoring and a media circus.

The huge international interest in the story of the students abducted from Chibok and the prominence of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign led the Nigerian army, the media and even the president, Muhammadu Buhari, to capitalise on an opportunity to enhance their own standing.

Rather than being given time to recover privately with her family, Nkeki was allowed a brief reunion with relatives before meeting the state governor and then being flown to Abuja in a military jet to meet Buhari and address a packed press conference at the presidential villa.


Chibok abductions: family speak of joy after schoolgirl rescued
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At first she tried to hide her face from the cameras but soon images of Nkeki and her four-month-old baby, born in captivity, were published online and on a number of newspaper front pages. The sensationalism of the moment seemed to obscure all sense of privacy or ethics.

Just hours after her rescue had been confirmed on Wednesday morning, domestic media outlets told the world that Nkeki had had a HIV test and that the result was negative. There was also widespread speculation about her relationship to Mohammad Hayyatu, a suspected Boko Haram militant who was found with her.

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A number of reports referred to Hayyatu as her “husband”, ignoring the way women and girls abducted by Boko Haram are often sexually exploited, sold into slavery and raped. It didn’t take much for the narrative of an kidnapped schoolgirl, turned wife, thankfully without HIV, to go into overdrive.

The military also tried to get in on the act. In a statement released after Nkeki was found it claimed that the army had rescued her. Activists soon pointed out that she had been found by the Civilian Joint Task Force, a community group trying to combat Boko Haram militancy. That statement has since disappeared from the Nigerian military’s press site.


http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/20/how-chibok-schoolgirls-private-ordeal-is-being-preyed-on-in-public?CMP=share_btn_tw

It doesn't matter who rescued her tho, but the fact that she has been reunited with her family

Political Rescue, APC una well done oooo.

But dearisgod oooooo.

Highly Political... #idonbelifit

Its all good

This chibok issue has really generated a lot of comments.

The truth be told, from the look of things, The Civilian JTF actually rescued the girl. But the Nigerian Soldiers snatched the glory.

JTF rescued her but the military took the glory as if they can do a jack. That's how APC is bent on taking the glory of the past administration without achieving nothing on their own. I knew the Chibok rescue ish was politically motivated to score a cheap card. Thank goodness it was all a stunt