Bring back our girls : the untold story of the global search for Nigeria's missing schoolgirls / Joe Parkinson and Drew Hinshaw.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Parkinson, Joe, author.

Hinshaw, Drew, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Twitter.

Abduction--Nigeria.

Abduction.

Schoolgirls--Crimes against--Nigeria.

Schoolgirls.

Kidnapping victims--Nigeria.

Kidnapping victims.

Boko Haram.

Terrorism--Nigeria.

Terrorism.

Islamic fundamentalism--Nigeria.

Islamic fundamentalism.

Twitter--Social aspects.

Social aspects.

Nigeria.

Physical Description:

xii, 409 pages, 16 pages of unnumbered plates : illustrations (some color), map ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2021]

Summary:

A definitive account of the rescue mission to free hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls after their kidnapping by Boko Haram describes how a global social media campaign initiated with the Twitter hashtag #BringBackOurGirls prompted a dramatic worldwide intervention.

Spring, 2014 millions of Twitter users unwittingly helped turn a group of 276 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram, a little-known Islamist sect, into a central prize in the global War on Terror by retweeting a call for their release: #BringBackOurGirls. Soldiers, spies, and glory hunters descended in a remote part of Nigeria that had barely begun to use the internet. Hostage talks and military intervention failed; the schoolgirls were forced to take survival into their own hands. As their days in captivity dragged into years, the young women learned to withstand hunger, disease, and torment, and became witnesses and victims of unspeakable brutality. Many of the girls were Christians who refused to convert to their captors' fundamentalist creed. Parkinson and Hinshaw reveal how a few days of online activism can bring years of offline consequences for people continents away. -- adapted from jacket

Contents:

Prologue

Part I: Kidnapped. "Gather outside" ; The day of the test ; The perfume seller ; Kolo and Naomi ; The caretaker of an orphan ; @Oby ; "Timbuktu" ; #BringBackOurGirls

Part II: An open-air prison. The blogger and the barrister ; Thumb-drive deal ; Mala Ahmed's rules ; The mothers' march ; "You must write one too" ; Tree of life ; The senator's house ; Maryam and Sadiya ; "These girls are global citizens" ; Christmas

Part III: A global conflict. The foreign fighters ; Agents of peace ; The general ; Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego ; Sisters ; The imam ; The escapade ; The deadline ; The windows are closed

Part IV: A breakthrough. "I'm not going anywhere" ; The fire ; "Never trust a breakthrough" ; Meeting in Manhattan ; Praise God ; The one you've been looking for ; "Now there is trust" ; Naomi and Kolo ; Epilogue ; Postscript.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 335-397) and index.

ISBN:

9780062933928

0062933922

OCLC:

1237757823