Feature: Two years on, whereabouts of abducted Nigerian schoolgirls still unknown

Tears flowed like a river on Thursday in Chibok, a community located in the southern part of Nigeria's Borno State, as parents sadly remembered their daughters who were abducted at a high school in the area.

A total of 276 girls were seized by armed men who stormed their dormitories on the night of April 14, 2014, at the Girls Secondary School in Chibok.

Two years on, while some 57 girls were brave enough to escape then, 219 of them still missing.

The news of their abduction went across borders, triggering outrage, earning global attention and leading to the "BringBackOurGirls" campaign, which was initially on a high decibel but gradually became low with only a few voices.

Celebrities across the globe, including female personalities like Michelle Obama and Malala Yousafzai, were among people who earlier lent their golden voices to the campaign.

Particularly in Nigeria, only the unified voice of the "BringBackOurGirls" campaigners is still being heard, albeit faintly, 731 days later.

On Thursday, tears which streamed down the cheeks of the parents and other relatives of the abductees, once again were reminiscent of that unfortunate incident and re-echoed the big question about the girls' whereabouts.

Also, in thunderous manner, "when will the Chibok girls be found or rescued?" was another big question on the lips of everyone, protesters alike, who gathered in many cities across Nigeria to bemoan the fate of the young girls.

Groups gathered in capital city of Abuja as well as in Lagos, the country's commercial hub, to remind the government of the need to rescue the abducted girls alive.

In Chibok town, some parents gathered for a special prayer in front of the school and wept for hours.

While uncertainty seemed to have ruined the hope of many parents who have waited -- though impatiently -- for the safe return of their daughters, few are still hopeful, noting "hope endures".

The #BringBackOurGirls# campaigners had chosen "Hope Endures" as the theme to commemorate the second year of the girls' abduction, enjoining the traumatized and conspicuously weak parents to still hold on strongly for "a miracle".

To most of the parents, two years seemed too long, thereby causing them to lose hope, even now that no information, either from the authorities or through other means, has shed a light on the whereabouts of the abducted girls or when they might return.

"We are no longer sure our daughters can return safely because we've waited for two years and we have no trace of them; no information from government about them," said Hassan Musa, a relative of one of the abducted schoolgirls.

"This is why many of the parents were weeping again," he said.

A video, which purportedly leaked from Boko Haram's camp early this week, showed 15 out of the missing girls speaking for the rest. There were indications that the video was recorded on the last Christmas Day.

"The government have repeatedly told us they do not have a clue to the whereabouts of our daughters and now, some of us are made to believe, through a video, that they are alive," Ibrahim Chibok, uncle to one of the abducted girls, said.

There are speculations that some of the girls had been married off by their abductors, while many had been forced to carry out suicide attacks for Boko Haram.

The Nigerian government had said, times without number, that hands were on deck to locate the girls and rescue them alive. Also, the government had signaled interest to hold round-table discussion with genuine representatives of Boko Haram to negotiate the freedom of the abducted girls.

Joe Okei-Odumakin, a female rights activist in Lagos, said the commemoration of the abduction of the school girls should inspire action on the part of the government to rescue the abductees.

"The two-year remembrance of their callous abduction by the Boko Haram sect should strengthen our resolve as individuals and as a nation, to continue to demand for their rescue," she said. Endit