Buhari says he can not promise to find chibok girls.

"Never to be forgotten" is the new slogan adopted Tuesday by campaigners, replacing "Bring Back Our
Girls — Now and Alive!"
On the first anniversary of the day 276 schoolgirls were snatched in the middle of the night from their
boarding school in northeastern Nigeria, President-elect Muhammadu Buhari says he must be honest
about the prospects of getting the 219 girls who are still missing back to their families.
"We do not know if the Chibok girls can be rescued. Their whereabouts remain unknown," Buhari said in
a statement. "As much as I wish to, I cannot promise that we can find them."
On Tuesday, 219 girls dubbed "Chibok ambassadors" marched solemnly through Abuja, Nigeria's capital,
each carrying a placard with the name of the missing girl they represent.
"We are here to appeal to the government to do better, we want our girls now and alive," said Solamipe
Onifade, 16.
A candlelight march was planned for after sundown.
In Chibok, dozens of family members and supporters gathered at the remains of the school, in front of a
burned out and roofless classroom, to mark the anniversary. Young girls held hand-written placards
demanding "Bring back our girls — Now and Alive."
One mother, Mariam Abubakar , told the crowd she was in disbelief that the government had been unable
to rescue the girls during a whole year.
The statement by Buhari, a former military ruler of Nigeria who was democratically elected on March 28,
is a marked departure from President Goodluck Jonathan , who, after his administration initially denied
there had been a kidnapping, made repeated hollow promises that the girls would be rescued. Buhari
takes over May 29.
A year after the April 14-15 mass abduction by Boko Haram gunmen from the town of Chibok, hope has
dwindled.
Several dozen girls managed to escape as the kidnappers were taking the hostages to the Sambisa
Forest in northeast Nigeria, some clinging to the branches of trees above a moving open-back truck to
get away. Those who remain missing may have been split up. Some witnesses said some girls were
taken across the border into Cameroon. Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, claimed they had
converted to Islam and been married off to his fighters.
A negotiator said that at least three died in the early days, from a snake bite, malaria and dysentery.
Then, Jonathan refused to negotiate with Boko Haram, who were offering to exchange the girls for
arrested insurgents.
A hopeful message addressed to the captives from Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai promises the girls
scholarships and says they must never lose courage.