Michelle Obama added her voice to the global campaign to bring home the
missing Nigerian girls, who were kidnapped from their school on April 15.
Hundreds gathered Tuesday
in front of the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, D.C. to protest the Nigerian
government’s failure to rescue the 276 teenage girls who were abducted 22 days
ago by members of the Islamist group Boko Haram. It has been reported that
the girls are being kept as slaves or sold as brides.
'Bring Back Our Girls'
Becomes Rallying Cry for Kidnapped Nigerian Schoolgirls
The First Lady posted to Facebook and Twitter on Wednesday a photo of her holding a white sign with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls written in black marker.
The photo comes one day after President Obama said the U.S. was sending a team to Nigeria to assist in finding the missing girls, who were reportedly kidnapped by members of the Islamic militant group Boko Haram. (Its name means "Western education is forbidden.")
The hashtag has been tweeted more than 1 million times as of Wednesday, with celebrities and politicians adding their voices to the global campaign, and is one of Facebook's top trending topics.
Ify Elueze, a young Nigerian girl who started a Change.org petition that surpassed 250,000 signatures on Wednesday, told Mashable on Monday that she couldn't imagine what the Nigerian girls were going through.
"I know the families because I can see their pain, their anguish, and I feel for them and I feel like I am one of them," said Elueze.
"That is the same feeling as everyone who has cried out to make the voices of these girls heard — on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram — and all the other platforms that people have been using to express their concern and solidarity for their families," she said.
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