Scan barcode
A review by madewellreads
The Chibok Girls: The Boko Haram Kidnappings and Islamist Militancy in Nigeria by Helon Habila
dark
emotional
informative
sad
fast-paced
5.0
The copy I own is a 'Penguin Special' and is 110 pages (compared to the 128 pages noted).
The style of this 'special' report afforded me a quick overview of the Boko Haram kidnapping while traveling, without carrying a cumbersome book or reading a longer article online. The report's compact style is also reflected in Habila's writing style: compact, but succinct, clear, and as Dave Eggers notes, 'controlled.'
Consider the tale Habila's weaves with the following: "Checkpoints weren't only for regulating traffic-they also controlled the flow of the narrative surrounding the kidnapping." This story is one of control: control by the government that Nigeria was actually 'winning' against Boko; control by Boko over the people of Nigeria through terror and fear; and control by Boko over the girls he kidnapped (276 in 2014). Before the kidnapping, starting in 2011, Boko terrorized Nigeria through suicide bombings - the first ever in the country. He also murdered 59 young boys in cold-blood at a co-ed secondary school the same year of the kidnapping.
In the final chapter we hear directly from three girls who escaped Boko by jumping from a truck and running in the night. This one leap of faith, writes Habila, made the difference between them and those who were taken. "Like most things in life, it all came down to chance, opportunity, and desperation."
The style of this 'special' report afforded me a quick overview of the Boko Haram kidnapping while traveling, without carrying a cumbersome book or reading a longer article online. The report's compact style is also reflected in Habila's writing style: compact, but succinct, clear, and as Dave Eggers notes, 'controlled.'
Consider the tale Habila's weaves with the following: "Checkpoints weren't only for regulating traffic-they also controlled the flow of the narrative surrounding the kidnapping." This story is one of control: control by the government that Nigeria was actually 'winning' against Boko; control by Boko over the people of Nigeria through terror and fear; and control by Boko over the girls he kidnapped (276 in 2014). Before the kidnapping, starting in 2011, Boko terrorized Nigeria through suicide bombings - the first ever in the country. He also murdered 59 young boys in cold-blood at a co-ed secondary school the same year of the kidnapping.
In the final chapter we hear directly from three girls who escaped Boko by jumping from a truck and running in the night. This one leap of faith, writes Habila, made the difference between them and those who were taken. "Like most things in life, it all came down to chance, opportunity, and desperation."