Authorities of the Comoros islands where the majority of population are said to be Muslims has banned the march in support of #BringBackOurGirls campaign because the government wants to dodge religiously sensitive issues.
Officials in the capital of the Comoros islands, Moroni, rejected a request to march over the kidnapping of over 200 Chibok schoolgirls from children’s rights group Maeecha, saying "it is not possible to grant you permission to walk in the streets of the capital, for reasons related to the circulation of traffic."
But, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) accused the government of the Indian Ocean island of trying to silence debate on the actions of Islamist radicals.
The non-governmental Solidarity Association of the Indian Ocean Islands had appealed to the government to speak out on the kidnapping by the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, but met a wall of silence.
According to the group, the authorities asked them to wait because "it concerned a sensitive topic, religion."
Boko Haram, whose name loosely translates as “Western education is forbidden”, kidnapped the girls from their dormitory on April 14, has claimed they converted to Islam and has threatened to sell them.
The rights group’s Nasser Assoumani said: "No verse in the Koran, no religious principle justifies this kidnapping. Boko Haram is an enemy of Islam which does not follow the prophet’s doctrines."
With a long history of political violence, including more than 20 coups, the Comoran authorities suggested Maeecha issue a statement rather than march in protest at the abduction.
It might interest you to know that Comoro Islands or Comoros form an archipelago of volcanic islands situated off the south-east coast of Africa, to the east of Mozambique and north-west of Madagascar
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