Boko Haram, an Islamic terror group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of 276 teenage girls from a boarding school in the village of Chibok, Nigeria on April 14, when militants of the group raided the village. About a month after the tragedy, the United States took action and sent 80 troops to Chad to aide the search for the missing schoolgirls, but the search has proven to still be unsuccessful as the girls remain in the hands of Boko Haram extremists. Three weeks after the abduction, a Boko Haram leader spoke out against the world declaring to sell the girls into slavery. “Allah says I should sell. He commands me to sell. I will sell women. I sell women,” he said. Soon after the girls were kidnapped, a mantra of support, #bringbackourgirls, took to the pages of Facebook, twitter, and other social media sites. The cause garnished activism from celebrities such as First Lady Michelle Obama, Pope Francis, and terror victim/activist, Malala Yousafzei.

While the hash-tags and support continue to expand the pages of various social media sites, the Nigerian government has taken action to the best of its ability, signing a ceasefire with the Islamic militants. The Nigerian government, whose army has been continually attacked by Boko Haram, hopes the ceasefire will achieve some sort of negotiation and ultimately, the freedom of the girls. “It remains to be seen whether this truce will actually materialize, whether it is merely an election ploy for Nigeria’s embattled president, Goodluck Jonathan, and most crucially whether it will bring about the release of numerous captives taken by Boko Haram during the past year,” wrote David Cook, who studies Jihad. Currently, actions by both the Nigerian and US government continue to try to intervene and stop Boko Haram’s horrific actions, but time will ultimately dictate the situation and the wellbeing of the girls. Meanwhile, it is imperative to continue the support and focus all of the attention on the captives, and not their captors.