How two ‘supposedly hapless’ Chibok girls earned university degrees abroad

Last Month, Joy Bishara and Lydia Pogu, two of the 276 Chibok girls kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014 but managed to escape by jumping out of a moving truck, graduated from Southeastern University in the United States.

Both girls who endured the horror of a night time abduction in Chibok seven years ago are now proud graduates. Pogu now 23 earned a degree in Legal studies while Bishara who is now 24 has a degree in social work.

Bishara, the most outgoing of the pair, speaks in exuberant flourishes, her accented English lilting upward at the ends of sentences. Though Pogu is more reserved, Dana Davis, Southeastern’s chief communications officer, said she has “blossomed” during her time at the school.

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Commenting on their ordeal and success, Bishara recalled how in a few seconds, she had to decide if she was going to die from an accident or in the hands of the insurgents.

“I remember thinking about what my mum would do at that moment then I prayed. I just remembered a voice in my head saying ‘jump out’. I knew I was going to die either way. I chose to die and that was how I jumped out.

Bishara decided at age 14 that she wanted to be a doctor, influenced by a Nigerian movie in which a woman dies while awaiting an operation as her daughter seeks money for a deposit. Bishara enrolled in a pre-medicine program, but after struggling with chemistry and pre-calculus classes she switched her major to social work.

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“I just want to help people,” Bishara said. “I’m not the one saving her mom’s life (from the movie), but I can make sure she has enough money to save her mom’s life by finding the resources she needs.”

Asked how she felt on the day of her graduation, she said: “It was awesome, I felt great. I remember being told that I wasn’t going to be able to finish high school; that I was dumb. I never gave up or listened to all the negative talks. It was exciting to walk on that stage after being told ‘you can’t do it’.”

On her part, Pogu said she had decided against going back to school after her escape until she was contacted by the US embassy.

“I’m trying to get my masters in human services and going back to law school when I’m done with my masters,” Pogu said.

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The mass abduction in April 2014 in Chibok, a town in northeast Nigeria, drew worldwide attention and spawned the plea, “Bring Back Our Girls,” joined by former First Lady Michelle Obama.

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More than 50 other girls fled the first night, and others have been released through prisoner exchanges. But more than 100 remain missing, according to multiple reports. That group includes one of Pogu’s cousins.

Bishara, now 24, said her circuitous route to Southeastern began when Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami, traveled to Nigeria in 2014 to investigate. Authorities arranged for Bishara and Pogu to meet Wilson at the American embassy, and the congresswoman asked if they would like to study in the United States.

Still traumatized from the kidnapping, Bishara wanted to take refuge with her parents and not resume school. But she aspired to be a doctor, and she realized she couldn’t reach that goal without continuing her education

Both women have worked on campus throughout their time at Southeastern. Pogu briefly had a job off campus at a fast-food restaurant but left because the workplace had “too much drama.”

Bishara has returned to Nigeria once more since her visit in 2017, but that is no longer an option for Pogu. She applied for political asylum during her sophomore year, and she said her case was recently approved. Asylum is based on a threat of harm in one’s country of origin, and Pogu would forfeit her status if she risked a visit to Nigeria.

Pogu is now awaiting permanent resident status, or a green card. She said she badly misses her parents and seven siblings, but she talks to family members through internet calls once or twice a week. Pogu said she also remains in contact with many of the other former Chibok girls.