TheCable

Ms Member Feese, a survivor of the 2011 Boko Haram attack on UN building in Abuja, has written a moving message to the Chibok community in Borno State.

Feese, 26, lost her leg in the August 26, 2011 attack on the United Nations Nigeria House and was unconscious for 30 days after the blast that killed 16 persons.

In a message to the Chibok community, following the abduction of 276 girls by the Boko Haram insurgents, Feese asked them to be strong and not “give up”.

Here’s the full text: “My message to the Chibok community is to hold strong, don’t give up, your girls will come home by the grace of God, alive and well and very soon.

“To the girls, stay strong, all of Nigeria and indeed the world is looking for you. We will find you and bring you home.

“I am Chibok Girl. I am you.

“On the 26 of August 2011 I went to the United Nations’ Building to collect data for my schoolwork. The terrorists came and bombed the building. Their intention was to kill us and take away our dreams. They destroyed the building, killed many and wounded others including me but they could not destroy our dreams.

“On the 14 of April, 2014 you went to school to get an education. The terrorists came and carried you away. They burnt down your school. Their intention is to cut short your ambition of getting an education and to destroy your dreams of living lives of dignity. They will not succeed. They may traumatise you but you will not bow.

“I am you.

“You are in the forest. I was lost in the rubbles of the explosion. Like you, family and friends looked for me. My father had to look among the dead similar to the manner that your parents and community pursued after the terrorists. Eventually I was found broken but alive. They will find you for I am you.

“Chibok Community, stay strong your girls will come home. Nigeria and the world is looking for your girls.

“Chibok Girls, stay strong you will be found and brought home. Nigeria and the world is standing up for you.

“I am you wounded but not bowed. You too will not bow. You will come home.”

In an interview with Abuja-based Metropole magazine a year after the incident, she described herself as “not bitter”.

She said: “No. I am bitter and I think people would expect me to be angry with them but anger is not the solution. I am just grateful to God for sparing my life. In all this, my philosophy of life has changed and I am seeing life in a new light now. I try to live everyday as my last day. I feel as if God has given me a second chance on life. That is why we started the advocacy group and we are trying not to allow anybody go through to what went through. We see it as if God has given a second chance to tell our story and reduce the casualties in Nigeria.”

She urged the government to open dialogue with the militants.

“I think government should try to dialogue with Boko Haram. I don’t think government has reached out to them to find out what their problem is or what they want. They should have a dialogue with them first so that they can find out what their main concern is and what they want from the government,” she said.

“I think the first thing is dialogue and may be if the government speaks to them, they would stop: fighting violence with violence is never the answer; it will only result in more casualties. The government says they don’t have a face but I’m sure like when they post the picture of Boko Haram, they put people’s faces. I am sure that somebody can recognise them and at least have a dialogue with that face since he is the face of Boko Haram.”