A review by libscigrl
The Chibok Girls: The Boko Haram Kidnappings and Islamist Militancy in Nigeria by Helon Habila
2.0
Other than through the media, I did not know much about the story of the Boko Haram kidnapping of over 250 girls in Chibook, Nigeria. I had hopes that this book would help with some of the details, but was left wanting more...a LOT more.
The author shares his own journey to Chibook, which is informative- the scary checkpoints, the kids carrying weapons and wearing fatigues, the bumpy truck rides. He finds a few people to interview that were present the night of the kidnapping, but doesn't go in to detail- this is what a wanted. Instead, we get more or less a "I heard noise, I looked, the girls were gone" clip. He also finds a girl to interview, but even that didn't provide anything other than "i jumped off the truck and ran".
The author spends more time talking about the politics that lead to the kidnapping, which are certainly interesting and informative. There is hardly any mention whatsoever of where the girls are now (either speculatively or truthfully) or what is being done to save them, or what Boko Haram is up to these days.
Overall this book left me with more questions than I had to begin with.
Thanks NetGalley for the free copy to review.
The author shares his own journey to Chibook, which is informative- the scary checkpoints, the kids carrying weapons and wearing fatigues, the bumpy truck rides. He finds a few people to interview that were present the night of the kidnapping, but doesn't go in to detail- this is what a wanted. Instead, we get more or less a "I heard noise, I looked, the girls were gone" clip. He also finds a girl to interview, but even that didn't provide anything other than "i jumped off the truck and ran".
The author spends more time talking about the politics that lead to the kidnapping, which are certainly interesting and informative. There is hardly any mention whatsoever of where the girls are now (either speculatively or truthfully) or what is being done to save them, or what Boko Haram is up to these days.
Overall this book left me with more questions than I had to begin with.
Thanks NetGalley for the free copy to review.