BringBackOurGirlsNYC Supporters Gather For Chibok Kidnapping One Year Later
New York City March 14 2015. Demonstrators gathered in New York City exactly one year after Boko Haram militants captured nearly 300 girls in the city of Chibok, in Nigeria. They hoped to draw attention to the fact that they are still missing and pressure politicians to take action. Kathleen Caulderwood

One year to the day after the world learned that Boko Haram had kidnapped 276 girls from the Nigerian city of Chibok as part of a continued campaign of violence, a group of over 300 people gathered in New York City, more than 5,500 miles away, to show support for the ongoing search effort and to ask authorities to work harder.

“What is the reason that the world has not turned its attention to these girls,” Rev. Herbert Daughtry, activist and presiding minister of the House of the Lord Church, asked the crowd moments before they marched to the Nigerian Embassy.

The kidnapping "anniversary" was also marked with massive protests in the Nigerian cities of Abuja and Lagos. The crowd gathered in New York was comprised of people representing dozens of ethnicities and religions in an attempt to show nondenominational support for the girls, and to condemn the actions of Boko Haram, a militant group with ties to Islamist extremism.

"It's so important for us to be united and look at the things that bind us. We all cry the same," said Debbie Almontaser, president of the New York City-based Muslim Community Network, to the crowd of people gathered outside the United Nations church center, many of whom were wearing numbered signs, in homage to the number of girls who were taken.

"We are all here as people of faith," Almontaser said. "Those who aren't people of faith are people of good conscience wanting good for their fellow human beings."

#BringBackOurGirls New York City
April 14, 2015. New York City. Demonstrators gathered across from the United Nations wearing numbered signs to represent each one of the girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria a year earlier. Kathleen Caulderwood
#BringBackOurGirls Vigil New York City
April 14, 2015. New York. Dr. Mojubaolu Olufunke Okome spoke about the need for Nigerian government officials to work hard to rescue the kidnapped girls. "We are sending a message," she said. " They're all our children, they're children of God and we are going to find them. " Kathleen Caulderwood
#BringBackOurGirlsNYC Vigil For Chibok Girls
April 14 2015. New York. "What is the reason that the world has not turned its attention to these girls?" Rev. Herbert Daughtry told atendees. Kathleen Caulderwood
#BringBackOurGirls New York City
April 14, 2015. New York. A group of girls spoke to demonstrators while wearing numbers in homage to the nearly 300 girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria. Kathleen Caulderwood
#BringBackOurGirls New York City
April 14, 2015. New York. More than 200 people gathered for a silent march to protest the fact that the Chibok girls have yet to be returned. Kathleen Caulderwood
20150414_vigil-244
April 15, 2015. New York. After demonstrators marched through the city, a rabbi stopped to lead a prayer for the missing Chibok girls. Kathleen Caulderwood
#BringBackOurGirls New York City
April 14, 2015. New York. A group of women marched from the United Nations to show solidarity for the nearly 300 girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria a year earlier. Kathleen Caulderwood
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Nigeria New york city United nations