(Ecofin Agency) - Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has reiterated commitment in ensuring the safe return of the 276 abducted school girls as the country on Sunday, January 8, 2017 marked the 1000th day, since the mass kidnap from the country’s northeast by Boko Haram fighters.

Buhari said he remained committed to making sure that the abducted schoolgirls are reunited with their families as soon as practicable.

“We are hopeful that many more will still return. The tears never dry, the ache is in our hearts. Our hearts will leap for joy, as more and more of our daughters return. It is a goal we remain steadfastly committed to,” he said.

Let’s be reminded that on April 14, 2014, Boko Haram fighters attacked the Government Secondary School in Chibok in Borno state, kidnapping 276 girls preparing for their end-of-year exams.

Eighty-one out of the 276 school girls are free and in government care while close to 195 are still in captivity.

The abduction of these girls and the Nigerian government's failure to act quickly has drawn international attention and has brought about a worldwide Bring Back Our Girls movement.

According to Aisha Yesufu, one of the campaign's leaders, it is important that the government state a timeline as to when the girls can reunite with their families.

“It's so sad that today is 1,000 days and we are still here demanding for the rescue of our Chibok girls," she said, urging the president to deal with the issue as a priority. Buhari should realize that for 1,000 days his daughters have been in captivity and they need to come back home; it's been too long. We still have 195 that are waiting for the whole world to bring them back because right now the Chibok girls are no longer just Nigerian girls - they are world citizens; they represent everything that a girl child goes through to get education and they have been in captivity for 1,000 days because they dared to dream,” Yesufu told Aljazeera in an interview.

Nigeria in December, declared a major victory in its battle against Boko Haram, claiming that its army has sent the fighters from their stronghold in Borno state. But the fighters have not ceased their raids on villages in Nigeria as well as other neighboring countries.

Anita Fatunji