Like the Chibok girls, my own mother, Kadiatu Conteh, came from humble beginnings in neighboring Sierra Leone, but education allowed her to transform her life, and ultimately shape mine too. It’s why I have always felt such a special connection to the kidnapped girls and remain committed to telling their story. This same bond strengthened my resolve to build W. E. Can Lead (Women Everywhere Can Lead), my nonprofit organization with a mission to empower teenage girls and nurture them to become the next generation of Africa’s leaders. It’s the reason I readily dropped everything to follow every major development in the Chibok story. And why I jumped on a plane to Nigeria when the first 21 schoolgirls were released in October 2016, and again several weeks later in December, this time to accompany the newly freed girls on their long-awaited journey back home. With Boko Haram’s near daily attacks a feature of life in Nigeria’s northeast, I knew my decision to travel to Chibok carried great risk. But a deep sense of responsibility drove me on.
After years of covering the Chibok community’s tremendous loss and sorrow, I felt compelled to document and share with the world this homecoming. I tried to keep my fears in check and remain focused on that sense of mission, as I strapped on my bullet proof vest and climbed into a vehicle with my CNN crew on that sunlit morning, a few days before Christmas. We took our place in the convoy, behind the bus carrying the 21 girls, surrounded by heavily armed police and soldiers and set off from Yola, in neighboring Adamawa state. Hours later, I watched as loved ones frantically clutched each other through their uncontrollable tears and shrieks of joy. Those scenes have stayed with me and serve as a constant reminder of the need to do whatever is necessary to continue the coverage of critical stories. With that in mind, I knew it was the right move to leave CNN in 2018 to complete my book, Beneath the Tamarind Tree, a detailed account of the mass abduction and how life unfolded for some of the girls during their years in captivity.
Sadly, violence against women and girls is not new. History has shown that women and girls suffer the most in times of crisis. Now as the entire world grapples with the enormity of the Coronavirus pandemic, I am more concerned than ever about the fate of millions of women and girls. UNFPA, the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency, estimated that there would be 31 million additional cases of gender based violence during the first six-months of lockdown, and 15 million more cases for every additional three months. With most governments overwhelmed and resources stretched thin, getting help to survivors will become increasingly challenging. What’s more, the perpetrators of the vast majority of these abuses and human rights violations will likely go unpunished.