CHIBOK TRAGEDY THROUGH THE EYES OF HELON HABILA
Sometimes we may not have a proper grasp of events happening around us, not because we lack the accurate information but because of the manner in which the information is presented to us. When one experiences chaos, unrest or even war, it's usually difficult to make others understand the agony it entails. Yet, storytelling is one of the most powerful tools that could be used to provide close-to similar experiences of those horrible occasions. The Chibok Girls is a short piece written by Helon Habila, a Nigerian novelist and poet whose writings have won multiple awards. He scrupulously narrated the abduction of 276 girls from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, a town in southern Borno state of Northeastern Nigeria by Boko Haram in April 2014. He was so courageous to have fared through Borno state while navigating his way to Chibok town multiple times in 2016, just two years after the abduction to have interviews with firsthand victims of the crisis. He meticulously narrated ...