Two of the freed Chibok girls graduate from exclusive US high school in Washington DC

TWO of the Government Girls Secondary School Chibok pupils who were rescued when Boko Haram attacked their institution three years ago and abducted over 200 of their classmates have graduated from a high school in Washington DC.

In April 2014, Boko Haram stormed the boarding school in Borno State in the middle of the night and kidnapped the school girls. However, several of the girls managed to escape and were taken to the US to resume their education and thanks to the support their received, two of them have now graduated.

Of the freed pupils, two girls, known by their first names Debbie and Grace, completed the  junior year (11th grade) and senior year (12th grade) at a prestigious private international school in the Washington metro area. Emmanuel Ogebe, a US-based human rights lawyer and the international director of Education Must Continue (EMC) initiative, a Nigerian non-governmental organisation involved in the care of the girls, revealed this yesterday.

Debbie and Grace were among 57 girls who escaped from the terrorists as they managed to get away from Sambisa Forest in a terrifying journey that took about a week with their captors in hot pursuit. They were the last to escape until Amina Ali also escaped last year after two years with the terrorists.

Mr Ogebe said: “By this graduation, Debbie and Grace became the first escaped Chibok girls to graduate from an American high school with diplomas after completing and meeting academic standards. This comes three years after terrorists interrupted their education during their final year in school in northeast Nigeria.

 “On hand to witness the historic graduation of the two Chibok girls in the class of 2017 were a delegation from Nigeria which included the founders and directors of Education Must Continue initiative, Mr and Mrs Paul Gadzama and the parent of one of the girls who travelled all the way from Chibok in northeast Nigeria. The only Chibok girl currently pursuing a degree programme in an American university, cut short her summer vacation in Nigeria to return for the graduation of her colleagues."

He also thanked EMC’s American volunteer education adviser, who helped obtain admission and scholarships to the exclusive $35,000 per year school. Upon admission, the girls had to repeat 11th grade after their initial school failed to meet up to its obligations.

Mr Ogebe said the girls won several awards, including the Most Hard-Working Student in English as a Second Language.  This, he added is an outstanding feat for Chibok girls especially given the fact that in Nigeria, most continue to speak in Hausa to the consternation of many Nigerians.

This he said, shows that our education model of immersion i.e. placing the students in American homes, was immensely successful as they are now able to engage confidently, communicate effectively and blossom generally. According to Mr Ogebe, this is why the girls in EMC’s US programme are the most articulate Chibok girls anywhere in the world.