12 Chibok Girls to Graduate From University on May 9, 12 Years After Boko Haram Abduction

Twelve of the schoolgirls abducted from Chibok in 2014 will walk across the graduation stage at the American University of Nigeria on May 9. It has been twelve years since Boko Haram fighters stormed the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, and dragged 276 students from their dormitories into the night.

Twelve years. Most of the world moved on. These twelve young women did not.

According to a statement from Yusuf Mohammed, head of marketing and communications at AUN, the upcoming commencement marks a turning point in a story that began with one of the most widely covered terrorist attacks in modern African history.

“For these twelve young women, it is an act of defiance, an assertion of identity, dignity, and possibility,” Mohammed said. “Once taken from their dormitory in Chibok, Borno State, they will now walk across the stage as university graduates.”

How they got here

The path from captivity to a university degree was anything but straightforward. When the young women arrived at AUN in Yola, Adamawa State, they were not typical freshmen. Years of interrupted education, trauma, and the weight of being global symbols of a kidnapped generation sat on their shoulders.

AUN built special academic programmes to help them rebuild foundational learning. Counselling services, healthcare support, and mentoring networks were organised around them. The university says their academic performance rose steadily over time.

The Federal Government funded the placements, creating the conditions for the girls to transition into an academic environment where healing and learning could happen together.

“I am becoming who I once thought I couldn’t be”

The graduates themselves have started speaking about what the moment means to them.

“I’m not just graduating; I am becoming who I once thought I couldn’t be,” said one of the graduates, Jummai.

Another, Ms Ezekiel, said: “Our journey at AUN is proof that darkness cannot win.”

Hauwa, an International and Comparative Politics major, recalled: “We arrived broken, but here at AUN we found strength and learned to dream again.”

Some of the graduates plan to work in development. Others are heading into healthcare. Their ambitions, according to AUN, are “bold, shaped by lived experience and a deep desire to redefine the narrative once imposed upon them.”

The ones still missing

The graduation comes with an unavoidable weight. Of the 276 girls taken that April night in 2014, 87 remain missing. Parents of the missing girls have continued to demand global action for their return. The May 9 ceremony will be a moment of celebration for twelve families and another painful reminder for dozens more who are still waiting.

AUN President Prof. DeWayne Frazier called the achievement a collective triumph. “This commencement marks a seminal moment, not just for AUN but for the world. These young women have shown extraordinary resilience and unwavering courage.”

The world once demanded that the Chibok girls be brought back. On May 9, twelve of them will show the world what they did after they returned.

Sources: The Sun Nigeria, Guardian Nigeria, Premium Times, Sahara Reporters, VOA News