Ontario Community Walks in Solidarity with Nigerian Girls

A large crowd gathered in the parking lot of Community CRC of Meadowvale in Mississauga, Ontario, last week to express their solidarity with kidnapped girls in Nigeria. More than 200 girls have been in captivity since April 14, when they were taken by Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram.

Organized by church member Nancy Jane Johnson, the rally around Lake Wabukayne attracted dozens of people from the community in support for the cause.

Mississauga city councilor Pat Saito and local Member of Parliament Brad Butt also participated.

Butt commented, “As a father of two girls, 14 and 10, this really strikes me as well as it strikes any of us who believe in human dignity and human decency, and who believe that, regardless of where we have conflicts in the world, we should never use our children as a battle weapon. On behalf of the prime minister and our government, we’ll do anything we can to work with our international allies to bring back our girls.”

Johnson remarked, “In Africa many families sacrifice to get their children to school. This evening we are joining an international movement with thousands of others who are showing support for these girls in Nigeria. We are standing to say this is a brutal violation of freedom and justice. We are very encouraged [by] Canada and its response. As we walk tonight we ought to ponder [that] beyond bringing back our girls, we are saying every life has value, every life matters, every life is worth rescuing.”