Mothers of Chibok… A tale of hope, resilience

There were no dry eyes in the room when Joel Kachi Benson’s film, Mothers of Chibok, a story on the mothers of the school girls from Chibok, Borno State, who were abducted by Boko Haram insurgents on April 14, 2014, premiered at the Alliance Francaise, Lagos, during i-REP International Documentary Film Festival recently.

Mothers of Chibok is a story about ‘Hope’. When you move away from grief, what next? What is the emotion that you move towards?

Benson, the brain behind earlier filmed, Daughters of Chibok, stated when explaining the drive behind the story.

He said: “Since 2014, when the Chibok abduction happened, I have always wanted to go to Chibok and tell the story of what took place directly from the sources as a storyteller, but I didn’t get the opportunity until 2018. I was fascinated by the story, the place and the women. Something so tragic can happen to you and there are multiple ways that you can react and respond to it – these women chose to gracefully hold on to hope in the face of adversity and I find that inspiring.

“By the time I looked past the grief, I was confronted with when we made Daughters Of Chibok, all I could see next is hope, sheer resilience and courage of strong women whose children were abducted but found a way to keep hope alive amidst their inner pain. I like to tell stories about people that inspire me and these women truly inspire me.”

Benson, however, revealed that making documentaries in Nigeria is tough.

“There has to be a way to break the jinx so that we can make more documentaries. There are so many important stories to be told that are not being narrated the right way and by the right people just because of the perception that it doesn’t return good pay. I feel like it’s an important genre in the industry that needs to be promoted.”

Mother of one of the girls, who is yet to return, Yana Galang said: “My daughter, Rifkatu Galang, was 18-year old when she was abducted and by April 14, 2025, she would have spent 11 years in the hands of the captors. I still have courage and hope that one day she will return.”

Narrating how she feels when some of the girls who were abducted returned, Madam Galang said: “There was a day when all of us the parents of the abducted Chibok girls fasted and prayed to God to bring back just one of the girls abducted – we needed hope, someone to tell us that our daughters are still alive.

“As God would answer our prayers, Amina Ali Nkeki came home as the first Chibok girl to return and she told us that all the girls were still alive. So, we kept praying and we had interventions that brought back 21 girls, then we got 82 girls back again. So, we are very happy though my daughter is not amongst those that returned, we are all very happy about the ones we got back because they are all our children. However, it is my prayer that all of the girls still in captivity return home sometime.”

When asked if she thinks the government has relented in the ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ campaign she said: “To be fair, the government has tried their best for a while but in the last two-three years, we have only had some of them return home individually. We have 23 of them who escaped in pairs themselves.”

Despite the situation, one that could have caused a setback in education in the community, the parents, especially the mothers of Chibok did not stop the education of the children in the community.

Madam Galang said: “We still send our children to school because regardless of the abduction, they are the future of our individual family, our community and country at large – they are the future of tomorrow.”

The story follows the lives of four mothers: Yana Galang, Lydia Yama, Ladi Lawan and Maryam Maiyanga during a farming season. It captures the women’s resilience in the aftermath of the 2014 abduction of their daughters in Chibok.

The movie premiere attracted guests from all walks of life including the Minister of Trade, Investment and Industry Jumoke Oduwole, who thanked Benson for making a great film as Mothers of Chibok. She also commended Yana Galang, who still awaits the return of her daughter, Rifkatu, and leads other mothers who continue to be affected by the tragic event.

“It’s a story of courage – Mama Yana’s courage, how she leads her community with dignity, inner strength, and peace amidst everything.”

Danish Consul General Jette Bjerrum echoed these sentiments, noting that the Chibok girls’ abduction is a story close to their hearts. Other notable guests at the premiere include Kelechi Amadi-Obi, Ade Bantu, Lagos PFN Chairman Yemi Davids, and motivational speaker Fela Durotoye, others.

The film was produced by Impact Partners, known for financing independent documentaries, and Hunting Lane, a studio recognised for auteur-driven projects like The Accountant, The Zookeeper’s Wife, and Exhibiting Forgiveness.