On April 8, 2021, the Ad Hoc Committee to Free the Slaves of Nigeria organized a rally beneath our billboard in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. The rally was called to ask Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN, District 5) — who has in the past called for an end to police brutality in a list of countries which includes Nigeria — to work with the Committee in taking action to free Nigerians enslaved by Boko Haram terrorists.

Those who attended included people, both black and white, moved by the suffering caused by Nigeria’s religious civil war, and who believe that while the enslavement of blacks is a distant memory in America, it must be eradicated anywhere and everywhere. A delegation then marched to Representative Omar’s office to deliver a paper copy of the Committee’s petition to help free Nigerian slaves.

Despite the rain, signs are set up and the first demonstrators arrive.
Committee member and president of the International Committee on Nigeria (ICON) Stephen Enada speaks to passersby.
Enada and fellow Nigerian Americans hold a sign bearing the image of Leah Sharibu, a 17-year-old Christian girl kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists in 2018 who remains a slave for her refusal to convert to Islam.
A delegation of marchers brings a copy of the Committee’s petition to Representative Ilhan Omar’s office.