Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from Government Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State of Nigeria on April 14, 2014. 113 girls are still missing.
Plunged into a red darkness, the
double Green and single White was blue
from many years of colourless existence
at the purple hands of the black haramites and
hating the colourful child of Egypt’s cradle;
wanting all to migrate to the grey state of nature
Their maroon bowl reached its brim,
filled with black haemoglobin
scooped from red-letter Nyanya ritual
and carting away into the green Sambisa
two-ten white Chibok virgins, and
caging these whites on brown soil, and leaving
score and half to be violet from serpents’ kisses
Green and blue earth unite and sing
Bring back our girls, with placards to the pitch darkness
Chibok’s Cherubs descend with multi-colour halos
Shekauites’ hearts are darkened with green
They are trepid and colour-blind
The coming of a yellow sun
Via a silver path arrives
Read More:
The fate of the Chibok girls [BBC]
Years After Boko Haram Kidnapping, Dozens of Girls Are Freed, Nigeria Says [The New York Times]
Success Akpojotor is a poet, novelist and screenwriter. His works have appeared or are forthcoming in Nigerian Observer, Tuck Magazine, Split Lip Magazine, among others. Born in Benin City, Nigeria, he holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Benin and now lives in Lagos Island.
Image via Michael Fleshman.
