Senegalese Protest Over Chibok abduction in Dakar

Members of some 20 civil soci­ety organizations in Senegal marched in Dakar on Satur­day to demand the release of the school girls abducted on April 14 by the Islam­ic sect, Boko Haram, in northern Nigeria.
The protesters, dressed in red, numbering over 100, shouted: “Release our sisters! Release our daugh­ters!’’ hurled hostile slo­gans against Boko Haram, while many others carried banners on which were written “Bring Back Our Girls.’’
A young Senegalese student, Seynabou Thiam, said she did not wish to be in the situation of the ab­ducted girls “because it is very difficult to get sepa­rated from our parents.’’
She expressed the hope that the mobilisation would reap its fruits with the help of God.
Another student, Mou­hamadou Bocoum, said that he was shocked by the abductions. “War is not prosecuted by abducting children.
“I do not understand how we can convert Christians to Moslems by force, as announced by the leader of the sect, Abubakar Shek­au,’’ Bocoum stressed.
According to him, mem­bers of Boko Haram are criminals because abduc­tion is a crime.
“They say they do it in the name of religion but Islam has never recom­mended abduction of chil­dren and to convert them by force,” he added.
Soukeyna Ndao, a mem­ber of the Association of Senegalese Jurists, regret­ted the weak mobilisation of African governments against the massive abduc­tion of girl-students.