First #ChibokGirl Rescued

I woke up to the great news that one of our #ChibokGirls was rescued.  

The news first came to me from Prof. Hauwa Biu, who is a stalwart in the movement. 

BBC also reported it: Chibok girls: 'First kidnapped girl found' in Nigeria 

So did Bukky Shonibare, who has been a key member of the Abuja BringBackOurGirls family.  

I am glad that Nigerian news sources are reporting this story. They include: Channels TV, Sahara Reporters, and Nigeria's Guardian. The UK's Telegraph also reported the story. I had initially posted, but removed the links to these stories from this blog because they have photos of our #ChibokGirls. My rationale: It is important to consider first of all, the complexity of the psychological condition of a person that has been subjected to this kind of extreme trauma, brutalization and sexual battery for more than two years.  Privacy is key. So is the building of a trusting relationship between victim and the therapeutic team. We don't have any structure for this in Nigeria.  This is most unfortunate.  Our long term goal is to develop a comprehensive, culturally appropriate framework that not only deals with the psychological and physical trauma suffered by our Chibok girls but by all victims of trauma in Nigeria.  For the time being, it's important to recognize that these young women will be suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and maybe other serious psychological conditions, and may not be in a position to make decisions on what they want to do or not, even as they are paraded throughout the media and are asked to speak about their trauma in a way that exposes all their private life to a curious but unsympathetic public that is just interested in the sensational event of the moment.  

Sadly, these reports include the alleged death of six (6) of our #ChibokGirls already.  This makes me very sad, and I hope and pray that there are no more deaths before all our #ChibokGirls are rescued.

Although it's unfortunate that this poor child who has just been rescued has become a mother under the horrible circumstances of being a Boko Haram captive, this rescue is great news for me because although I'm angry that Nigeria allowed these poor girls to languish in captivity for so long, these are human beings and each of them is valuable and deserving of our celebration of their rescue from the homicidal psychopaths that have held them in captivity. 

Hoping that all others are rescued and accepted by their families, communities and Nigerians, and that they are given the psychosocial support to resume normal lives. 

Many people have asked me "what is this psychosocial support about?"  My paper on the trauma of captivity and agony of return deals with an aspect of it.  It will be published soon by the Social Science Research Council's African Peacebuilding Network.  

Have a wonderful day!