After two weeks, frustrated parents in Nigeria have no idea where their daughters are

Nigerian parents

There's been protests and anger from frustrated parents in Nigeria. People took to the streets of the capital Abuja as well as the northern city of Kano to protest.

And yet the government has no answers. About two weeks ago, militiamen abducted around 200 schoolgirls, as they prepared to take their final exams.

Ameto Akpe, a Nigerian journalist who is now a Nieman fellow at Harvard University, says when she heard about the kidnapping she felt anger and confusion.

Akpe, who has covered government corruption extensively, says her anger is because she knows that in Nigeria "nothing gets done as it should be."

First she says, the Nigerian government should have done more to protect the girls before the kidnapping.

And after the girls were taken away, she says the government should have secured the borders and then done extensive intelligence gathering in the area.

According to her not only did it fail to do those things, but it also came out saying that it has rescued all the girls, something that turned out to be false.

No specific group has claimed responsibility so far, but it's been widely believed that Boko Haram, an Islamist militant group, was responsible.

Akpe says that Nigeria, right now, "is like a nation that's upside down."

Invest in independent global news

The World is an independent newsroom. We’re not funded by billionaires; instead, we rely on readers and listeners like you. As a listener, you’re a crucial part of our team and our global community. Your support is vital to running our nonprofit newsroom, and we can’t do this work without you. Will you support The World with a gift today? Donations made between now and Dec. 31 will be matched 1:1. Thanks for investing in our work!