Longshot Communications, a film production company, has adapted the story of a secondary school girl who escaped after being kidnapped by Boko Haram into a stage play.
‘Habiba’ was kidnapped alongside 275 other female students from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno state, by Boko Haram insurgents.
According to Kelechukwu Anunibe, the creative director of Longshot Communications, the play seeks to raise questions on the unresolved issues surrounding the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls in Chibok in 2014.
He said although some of the girls were later released at intervals by the Boko Haram following negotiations with the government, many others are still in captivity.
“Our stories are designed to bring social issues to the front-burner of the nation’s consciousness by driving conversations that birth social change. As a storytelling organisation, we have been providing artistic and directorial support to a faith-based organisation in Lagos since 2017 and we will continue to do so,” he explained.
“The girl whose story will be portrayed in the musical was kidnapped on the 14th of April in 2014.
“She managed to escape along with three other girls after months of horrifying treatment, rape and beatings, while some of her friends were killed in the Sambisa forest where they were being held in captivity. ‘Habiba’ and three other girls were set free by one of the terrorists who had been a long-time admirer of hers.”
The kidnap was a major one that received global attention and birthed Bring Back Our Girls, a non-governmental activist group.
The musical will be staged at the MUSON Centre in Onikan, Lagos, on November 23.
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