Two Chibok girls graduate from US varsity 7 years after escaping Boko Haram

 

Seven years after escaping from Boko Haram in 2014, two of the Chibok schoolgirls have graduated from Southeastern University in the United States.

Joy Bishara and Lydia Pogu, ex-students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State graduated with a degree in social work and legal studies on April 30.

Bishara and Pogu were among the 276 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents in the first mass student abduction witnessed in Nigeria on April 14, 2014.

The duo, with some others, managed to escape captivity by jumping off the truck while they were being carted away by the kidnappers, Online Nigeria reports.

Earlier in 2017, two others Debbie and Grace had also graduated from American universities.

Bishara and Pogu graduated from Canyonville Christian Academy in Oregon in February 2017, after which they met with ex-President Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, 112 of the Chibok girls are still in Boko Haram captivity.

Commenting on their ordeal and success, Bishara recalled how, in a few seconds, she had to decide if she was going to die from an accident or in the hands of the insurgents.

“I remember thinking about what my mum would do at that moment then I prayed. I just remembered a voice in my head saying ‘jump out.’ I knew I was going to die either way. I chose to die and that was how I jumped out,” Bishara told US news outlet GMA3.

Asked how she felt on the day of her graduation, she said: “It was awesome, I felt great. I remember being told that I wasn’t going to be able to finish high school; that I was dumb. I never gave up or listened to all the negative talks. It was exciting to walk on that stage after being told ‘you can’t do it.”

On her part, Pogu said she had decided against going back to school after her escape until she was contacted by the US embassy in Nigeria.

“I’m trying to get my Master’s in Human Services and going back to law school when I’m done with my masters,” Pogu said.