YCL national secretary Buti Manamela addressed the crowd and the media. Manamela said, “It is an act of cowardice to abduct girls and use them whether as slaves, whether as trade or for political convenience. Real men would go and fight people their age and people their size and not target young women.”
He said that, “We as the children of Africa have witnessed consistently how there seems to be procrastination in dealing with such incidents.”
Manamela called for the Nigerian government to act decisively in releasing the girls unscathed and getting them back to school with immediate effect.
“If those were daughters of presidents of republics, if those were daughters of CEOs of multinationals, if those were daughters of leaders of the United Nations or any of the strong bodies of capitalist institutions or corporations … today as we speak Boko Haram would be in ashes, the girls would be back at home. Act as if those girls were your own,” Manamela said as he ended his speech.
After his speech Manamela extended the mandate to rescue the girls to the deputy head of mission for the Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria Martin Cobham.
Lapa Mahapa, head of communication for the YCL on campus, Mahapa said, “Military action should be taken. If this could happen in Nigeria it could happen anywhere else in Africa.”
Thando Dhalha, chairperson of YCL on campus, added, “Girls are not for sale and people are not for sale. These terms of negotiation should be put aside and these girls should be brought back by all means necessary.”
Photo: Aron Hyman
