Bring Back Our Girls: The Untold Story of the Global Search for Nigeria’s Missing Schoolgirls – Award-Winning Investigative Journalism on Boko Haram and Twitter Activism

by Drew Hinshaw, Joe Parkinson

What happens after you click tweet?. . . The heart-stopping and definitive account of the rescue mission to free hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls, and their heroic survival, after their 2014 kidnapping spurred a global social media campaign that prompted the intervention of seven militaries, showing us the blinding possibilities—for good and ill—of activism in our interconnected world. 

In the spring of 2014, American celebrities and their Twitter followers unwittingly helped turn a group of teenagers into a central prize in the global War on Terror by retweeting #BringBackOurGirls, a call for the release of 276 Nigerian schoolgirls who’d been kidnapped by the little-known Islamist sect Boko Haram. With just four words, their tweets launched an army of would-be liberators, spies, and glory hunters into an obscure conflict that few understood, in a remote part of Nigeria that had just barely begun to use the internet.

When hostage talks and military intervention failed, the schoolgirls were forced to take survival into their own hands. As their days in captivity dragged into years, the young women learned to withstand hunger, disease, and torment, and became witnesses and victims of unspeakable brutality. Many of the girls were Christians who refused to take the path offered them—converting to Islam.

While the world’s most sophisticated surveillance technology sputtered out, a covert Swiss agency and its Nigerian recruits worked painstakingly in the shadows to free the girls. A powerful work of investigative journalism, Bring Back Our Girls unfolds across four continents, from the remote forests of northern Nigeria to the White House; from clandestine meetings in Khartoum safe houses to century-old luxury hotels on picturesque lakes in the Swiss Alps. It is a cautionary tale that plumbs the promise and peril of an era whose politics are fueled by the power of hashtag advocacy—revealing how wildfire social media activism is reshaping our relationship to global politics.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, History, Africa, Politics, Crime, Religion

432 pages, Hardcover

First published March 2, 2021

Reviews

[Lydia Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

On 14 April 2014, Boko Haram militants attacked a government secondary boarding school in Chibok, Bormo st, where mostly Christian teenage girls from surrounding areas had gone to take exams. This is the appalling story of what happened to these girls.

[S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who has Nigerian friends and almost married a Nigerian, I'm interested in the country and culture. I remember this event, but people rarely talk about what happened to those poor girls. This book tells in great depth what happened and everyone should read it, and everyone should care.

[Georgi Kantchev · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a truly gripping read about a fascinating story. Its atmospheric and evocative writing takes you inside the forest camp, the military base and even the White House. As it explores their fate, the book paints captivating portraits of the girls - and presents them not just as pawns in an abduction but as incredibly strong individuals whose struggle and perseverance gives the story emotional heft. Finally, it explores, in a balanced and nuanced way, the pitfalls of today's social media activism, making the book relevant beyond the realms of the story itself.

[Nupur · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was hard to put down. The personal stories of the Chibok girls and the slew of characters involved in their release are intensely personal, heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time. The book artfully weaves together these personal stories with a broader narrative that is incredibly informative and at times fascinating. The writing is consistently nuanced, highlighting the moral complexity at the heart of the various themes the book touches on. In a world that moves on so quickly from one hashtag to the next it's incredible that the authors of this book dedicated 6 years of their life to telling this story.

[Richard Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

The authors skillfully weave complex events into a spellbinding narrative of heroism and courage, with thought-provoking implications on social media, terrorism, and international politics vis-à-vis African nations.

[EvaLynn Merrill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on true events, this book is pretty gripping. The girls who were kidnapped (about 275) and the things they had to endure were just unbelievable. They were Christians and kept up their faith in secret but some just couldn’t and played along. The Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram were ruthless in their twisted cause for religion and sharia law.
This is the second book I’ve read from Africa. The sadness I feel for the people who have to live this way.
This book was full of facts and to think that the #bringbackourgirls could have such an impact. But still took over three years.
This is a great history lesson and as such we always hope to learn from the past. But how do you deal with such evil? I’m glad I read the story and know the facts, you will too

[Renae Nickols · Rating 5 out of 5]

The incredible story of the Chibok girls who were abducted by Boko Haram and used as a pawn in a long running war. This is a fast paced, urgent narrative by two Wall Street Journal reporters after years of extensive research and interviews. The authors call it a work of 'accountability journalism', which questions whether the #bringbackourgirls movement did more harm than good. Really helpful for understanding the 'butterfly effect' that one small action (or social media post) can have on a global scale and the painstaking work that goes into hostage negotiations and peace talks. And the best part - seeing it all through the eyes of the missing girls themselves.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly researched. Eye opening and thought provoking. And extremely readable. What are the unseen effects of social media activism? What courage and mettle does it take to survive kidnapping, war, starvation, and countless other horrors? What is right and wrong?

[Nupur · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was hard to put down. The personal stories of the Chibok girls and the slew of characters involved in their release are intensely personal, heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time. The book artfully weaves together these personal stories with a broader narrative that is incredibly informative and at times fascinating. The writing is consistently nuanced, highlighting the moral complexity at the heart of the various themes the book touches on. In a world that moves on so quickly from one hashtag to the next it's incredible that the authors of this book dedicated 6 years of their life to telling this story.

[Nupur · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was hard to put down. The personal stories of the Chibok girls and the slew of characters involved in their release are intensely personal, heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time. The book artfully weaves together these personal stories with a broader narrative that is incredibly informative and at times fascinating. The writing is consistently nuanced, highlighting the moral complexity at the heart of the various themes the book touches on. In a world that moves on so quickly from one hashtag to the next it's incredible that the authors of this book dedicated 6 years of their life to telling this story.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye opening and thought provoking. And extremely readable. What are the unseen affects of social media activism? What courage and mettle does it take to survive kidnapping, war, starvation, and countless other horrors? What is right and wrong?

[Elsa Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book showing the often unrecognised effort that went into bringing back (some of) the girls. Would definitely recommend!

[Thea Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such admirable, brave girls. I feel for them and their families. I cannot fathom the fear they must have experienced while in captive.

This book allows us to reflect on the temporarily sensationalized hashtag #BringBackOurGirls. Was the hashtag really helping the girls? Or did it hurt them more? This book also highlights all the efforts, good and bad, of the different individuals and groups who pushed for the freedom of the Chibok girls.

I gave this book a 4 not because of the girls’ story but because of how it was written. There were so many times where the authors emphasized what kind of make car this and that person was driving or what brand glasses/apparel so and so was sporting for the day. And I honestly couldn’t care less about those material descriptions. They seemed unnecessary a lot of times and distracted from the tragic feel of the book.

But other than those bits, the girls’ story truly moved me and the authors laid out all the attempts of saving the Chibok girls in a way that makes you realize tragedies like these have no straightforward solution. It reminded me of how as an outsider, it’s so easy to see easy fixes to government issues but when you actually get into the nitty gritty, there’s just so much trouble, from ethics, to finance, and to politics, and more. This books reminds us that end of the day, our own governments and militants groups are overrun by very imperfect humans like ourselves who make very questionable and unpredictable decisions that make fixes very complicated to achieve.

It’s such a shame that I have never heard about this issue until I saw this book and read it. It’s also so embarrassing to see people go crazy over a hashtag yet so half-heartedly at the same time. And that the rest of the girls’ suffering during their three years of captivity was forgotten and didn’t get the media attention it deserved because people simply stopped caring. I’m glad for the girls who came home to their families, and my heart is with the girls who never came back. Such brave, faithful girls. I don’t even come close!

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the beginning of the book and all the parts where the Chibok girls were speaking. Most of the book though felt like a long drawn newscast. Information came from second-hand sources. I am also saddened that I watched world news every night with my family but I do not recall seeing this story at all. The fact there are still girls missing (many presumed dead by now) also breaks my heart. I would love to see the girls diaries as a story as that is the truth. Facts I still cannot grasp: as of 2018 (4 years after kidnapping) 276 in total, only 164 freed. 112 still missing and at least 40 died in childbirth, or undisclosed diseases. This is still going on and I wonder if by small chance some girls are still alive and will ever get to freedom. My rating is for the girls voices in the narrative non-fiction book not the parts I could get from searching news. Of course it is incomplete and there are many resources shared at the end of the book in the notes for more information. Hearing their words (the survivors) is what gives it my rating of 3 stars. It would be higher if it was told more from their perspectives and in their voices

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book dealt with so many themes that I had to think about it for a while. In 2014, over 200 high school girls were kidnapped from a school in a small village in Nigeria.

Nigeria is a country of over 2 million that has been involved in a Civil War with Boca Haram for over 20 years. Kidnappings and murder are common. These girls became famous because of a Twitter storm. Everyone from Michelle Obama to Mary J. Blige were tweeting #bring back our girls. This kidnapping wasn’t even planned. Boca Haram planned to steal a brick making machine and decided to fill the truck with the girls.

The book dealt with the lack of a competent government, the international effort to find the girls and the difficulty modern governments have in dealing with a war and a part of the world they barely understand. But the real story is how the girls survived by staying unified and strong.

I really commend Joe Parkinson and Drew Hinshaw for the excellent job they did in researching and reporting this story.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 4.5. The kidnapping of 275 girls from Chibok, Nigeria by the terrorist group Boko Haram gained worldwide attention when the hashtag #bringbackourgirls spread, but eventually the world's attention moved on to other things. This book tells the story of what happened to the girls- the context under which this happened (I hadn't realized that southern Nigeria is largely Christian while northern Nigeria is more rural and Muslim, but that Chibok, a northern town, had more Christians than the region as a whole), their lives before the kidnapping, the abuse they suffered with their captors, the ways the hashtag brought attention to the case and the ways in which the rest of the world misunderstood it (for one thing, the girls were just a small fraction of the huge number of people kidnapped by Boko Haram), and how many of them finally returned home. Over 100 of them are still unaccounted for. I wish a bit more space was given to their lives post-captivity, but this was very well-written, informative, and thought-provoking.

[E · Rating 4 out of 5]

It takes me a while these days to finish a print book, but they’re still my favorite.

This is the second book I’ve read on this topic, and it’s better than the first. These girls, their faith in God, their love and devotion to each other, their fortitude is awe-inspiring.

This book isn’t all about the hashtag, it’s all about the intertwined efforts of well-meaning individuals and not well-meaning individuals and how truly difficult trust and communication between organizations can be and how innocent people get caught and mistreated in the crossfire or used as pawns in leaders’ games.

I learned that Swiss diplomacy is a business, and that Nigeria has been politically turbulent for longer than I realized.

I truly admire these girls and hope more of them publish their personal accounts. Maybe someday I’ll meet one of them. I want to give them all a hug.

Also, while I was reading this two of the girls graduated from a University in FL. Excellent!

[Mario · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good investigative journalism around the kidnapping of the 276 Nigerian schoolgirls, the subsequent explosion on social media and international publicity/interest surrounding it and then the attempt to release them.

This book is narrative non-fiction based on 6 years of reporting and hundreds of interviews, including with some of the surviving girls who made their way out. They also interviewed officials, mediators and negotiators involved in their release and those who helped try to bring attention to this case. So it's thorough in what they set out to do, which stated in the Postscript, isn't a history lesson of the Boko Haram conflict. The stories from the girls are the most compelling and moving.

The worldwide attention brought by the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls is what also probably kept them alive, even whilst the situation slipped pretty quickly from people's minds. It seems arbitrary that something like that would keep them alive whilst thousands of others have died or gone missing during this war, including many school children. But ultimately that is what happened as they were a valuable commodity to Boko Haram and it has since been mentioned by officials that it is quite likely that the ransom paid for them may have facilitated many more terror attacks throughout Nigeria.

There's no happy ending here; some were rescued, others are still missing, many presumed dead. The lives of some probably led to the death of many other innocents. It's a complicated conflict that has spread throughout neighbouring countries that the vast majority who tweeted #BringBackOurGirls 9 years ago probably have no idea about.

[Pattie Garner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre:Adult, Non-Fiction, Africa, Politics, Kidnappings Rating: PG-13(violence and language)

This book took me longer to read because it has an insane amount of information. I had to Google much of it for reference. A young adult version would be better for people like me who analyzes information and cross reference. It felt more like a text book read. I didn't know about the Islamic terrorist, Boko Haram. He was a girl's/communities worst nightmare. The Nigerian school girls endure hardships like none other. There are terrible politics and games that go into rescuing humans in these situations. The corruption these villages face are horrific in so many ways. God Bless those poor souls that endure this sort of madness.

[Afiniki Silas-Bossan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Narrative is beautifully woven and tied together. I had read and seen fragmented bits of this entire story in the news, and often reacted to them as if they were stand-alone stories. But seeing how all the moving parts tie together is certainly fascinating.

I went in almost ready to pick apart "what they got wrong about Nigeria and the situation" but instead I found myself learning quite a bit.

Good writing with few embellishments.

Although I had read a lot of news articles and seen several clips about the Girls, one thing that struck me from this book in particular was how important the Girls' faith was to them and how it influenced things. Makes me think about Leah Sharibu.

Highly recommended.

[Carolyn J Buff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real life horror story

This book is a simple straightforward read and incredibly moving. The poverty of the region; the number of children who’ve been kidnapped and tortured by Boko Haram, a group that doesn’t get nearly the same headlines as the Islamic state in Syria and Iraq; the appalling choices forced on the girls; their unbelievable resilience; the traumatized parents; the government infighting; Boko Haram infighting; the fact that many members of Boko Haram were kidnapped themselves; Swiss persistence….All, so well documented and reported. A stunning tour de force reportage from Parkinson and Hinshaw.

[Ana-Maria Bujor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually found myself wondering a few times what happened to the girls, so I am glad such a well put together work of journalism exists. It seems I knew a lot of wrong things about what happened.
While terrible things do happen, I like that this book does not turn into misery porn, but actually presents what happened in a dignified and non-voyeuristic way. It mixes testimonies from survivors with the larger picture of what was going on internationally. Moreover it shows the complicated legacy of the hashtag. A great book to better engage with news and social media phenomena, as well as to understand the complicated recent history of Nigeria.

[Michael Jolls · Rating 4 out of 5]

On one of the book apps, I noticed the review score for “Bring Back Our Girls” was a little low for something that looked competent, and when I got to the end I realized why... it's an unrewarding ending. This is no fault of the authors who did an excellent job, but specifically frustration of what witnessing what fanaticism can do to the oppressed. The story of the Chibok School Girls would make for a good miniseries, or a two-part movie as the incident took place over the course of nearly three years with dozens of moving parts. It functions great as a long form narrative and is a story that, as a whole, captures the state of radical Islam and countries trying to grapple with it in the 2010s.

[Tangled in Text · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insight with the differing perspectives. This book captures both the overall outside news and views while also including the personal stories. The author references that some of the mothers, families, and girls did write their own memoirs of this event and that's the only thing that held this back for me. I'm not sure how much of this the author just borrowed and is taking away revenues and the voices of those directly affected. The news insight though was baffling. It shows how publicity can eschew, get in the way, and possibly ruin lives.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

These girls/women went through hell - but they were survivors! So much unknown, but they did succeed. Fighters, survivors, learners, strong women. Interesting to read how they were the "belles" of the Internet - First Ladies, actors, politicians, "regular folk" initially supported "Bring back our girls", but they soon lost their first place status and it took too long to get most of them returned. Really showed how fickle society can be - you're hot, then you're not. How do you survive and thrive after such an experience?

[Luke V · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was already very interested in this story before reading this book, as I am a Church of the Brethren member and we've had a candle lit in our church for years to remember Aisha Lawon (sp?) in our prayers. This book does an incredible job both detailing the kidnapped girls experiences, and the reaction of the outside world (and then, what that reaction meant for the girls... most likely, causing their suffering to last longer than it would have otherwise). Wonderful that many of the girls were returned, but there are many (such as Aisha) for which there has been no closure.

[Michelle Ule · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fine and complicated narrative non-fiction story of the abduction and complicated negotiations required to free half of the girls kidnapped in 2914.

The journalists did a fine job of telling the story, making the girls highlighted unique--though the Boko Haram terrorists tended to blend together.

The book explores the nature--for good or ill--of social media in a connected world. Highly readable and interesting, I enjoyed it.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Chibok schoolgirls were famous for a moment and then disappeared from view, but their struggle continues. It was good to read this detailed account of what happened and how the situation stands today. The survival stories are amazing. The commentary on both the power and the detriment of social media fame is interesting. The insight into the complexities of international relationships and diplomacy is well worth some thought.

[Jill Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had been waiting by for this book to be published - and it certainly didn’t disappoint. It took me forever to read it - it’s a lot to take in, the first third was just a slower read, then it picked up the pace. This book is an example of journalism at its finest in my opinion. We all know of the Chibok Girls, but just the surface. This is a great book, an intelligent read, extremely informative.

[RichVT · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating read throughout. The story of these young women is well told and moving enough on its own, but the authors give a global spin about how the world and diplomacy interacts via media and the consequence good and bad from such media notoriety. The description of the techniques of negotiation is another bonus.