- Lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe says her retraction could help gain global assistance to rescue the Chibok/Niger students
Former Washington Post reporter who authored the book “The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA” (Crown Books, October 2023) which claimed an alleged rescue operation of some girls by the U.S. spy agency in Sambisa Forest has now agreed to clarify her story after serious doubts raised by international human rights lawyer, Emmanuel Ogebe.
Mundy, in her book said CIA agent “(Molly’s) third posting was Nigeria, where in April 2014, 276 female students had been kidnapped from a Christian boarding school in Chibok by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram…Working with the British and French, they hoped to get all the girls in one fell swoop, but some had been married off to fighters and were reluctant or unable to leave their babies, at least not right away. But they did get thirty at one time.”
However in half a dozen reports last year, lawyer Ogebe cast doubts on her claims, including proving the release of 21 and 82 girls in 2016 and 2017 respectively, and not 30 at any point whatsoever.
Nevertheless, despite the book’s author initially maintaining her original position in her first known response to the controversy after a year and a half, Liza Mundy in a follow up email, softened her stance:
On Nov 19, 2025, at 11:53 PM, lizamundy wrote:
Dear Emmanuel,
Thank you for your message. I am in the Philippines doing research for a book and only intermittently on email. In my book, I do not say that the covert team reached each and every girl, and I make it clear that some were unable to return. And some returned later. I certainly don’t think this gives the impression that no one should search for them now. My gosh. Never that. I will certainly make this clear in any further writing or in a film series. I think about these families every day. Best regards, Liza
Sent from my iPhone
On Nov 11, 2025, at 3:23 AM, Justice For Jos wrote:
Dear Liza,
Thank you for your kind response to my inquiries.
Since last year I have crosschecked multiple sources and no single one corroborates your claims. These include other American media, UK’s ex-PMs and more recently the girls themselves.
As a subject matter expert, I knew your narrative didn’t comport to anything I knew including timelines and numbers. Besides, there were internal inconsistencies in your account.
The problem with your story is that it gives the erroneous impression that the U.S. reached the girls in captivity and they chose to remain thus no one should really look for them anymore because of their alleged “choice.”
In this light, it’s important the veracity of this story is investigated and necessary corrections and clarifications made so the still-missing girls are not harmed thereby.
Given the renewed attention on Nigeria by the U.S. government, this is a good time to do that.
As you know, Israeli hostages returned after two years while these girls are now going to a dozen years captive. They don’t get Gaza-level attention.
Also I understand you’re doing a film series as well. This is all the more reason why this should be gotten right so the errors are not reinforced.
Can we schedule a time to discuss this?
Thanks,
Emmanuel
Recent National Diaspora Merit Award winner Ogebe disclosed that this weekend he wrote to Ms Mundy informing her of the newly abducted school kids and urging her action to help enhance their rescue:
Dear Liza,
Thank you for taking the time to respond amidst your hectic international travels.
I do appreciate that.
Over 50 kids were abducted today in a Catholic apart from the 25 girls abducted in Nigeria so it appears that evil genie is back out of the bottle. This underscores the gravity and vulnerability of children from terrorists (if you think Epstein vics had it rough on the island, think about girl captives in Sambisa forest!)
As I stated in an interview today, the U.S. is not in Nigeria helping rescue the girls right now but by this time after the Chibok abductions, an FBI hostage team had already been deployed by Obama.
The fact this isn’t happening now is of course concerning despite President Trump’s recent focus on Nigeria.
I have laid out in detail why your story is not credible. It doesn’t comport with any verifiable fact or historical timelines. Obama’s rescue team was in Nigeria in 2014. I met them. Your book claims Molly was dispatched to look for them in 2016 because the U.S. only took interest then when ISIS and BH merged becoming a global terror.
Again that’s not true. I led a global campaign to designate Boko Haram a Foreign Terrorist Organization and we successfully got President Obama to do so 12 years ago in 2013 – six months before the girls’ 2014 abduction. The house Africa subcommittee chair literally spoke about this at a congressional hearing on Nigeria yesterday!
Now I know you’re a bestselling author and understand the intricacies of writing someone else’s story especially from the covert world. They could misremember, distort, exaggerate etc and you unfortunately bear the brunt.
What I am asking, in fairness to the still-missing 80 girls from 2014 and the now-missing 72 since last week, is that you reassess the veracity of the story and offer a mea culpa if you doesn’t pass the smell test. This would highlight their plight and hopefully jumpstart fresh/real rescue efforts.
You can also share your source materials so we can review and figure out what went wrong. Your story was so bad, a simple google search was truer than information supposedly provided by America’s premier intelligence agency!
You’re the only one in the world to call the Chibok girls’ school a “Christian school.” It wasn’t. It’s a public school. It says that in the name and in all the photos of the school’s sign board online.
The Wall Street Journal (my least favorite paper) as compromised as they were in a story entitled “One Sister Fled Boko Haram. The Other Was Trapped. Their Lives Will Never Be the Same” https://www.wsj.com/world/africa/boko-haram-chibok-schoolgirls-10-years-sisters-2206eea0?st=8gqtk5vjey4kett&reflink=article_email_share on April 20, 2024 the WSJ mentioned the US role in the quest of the abducted Nigerian schoolgirls:
“It was an abduction so inconceivable in its scale that it shocked Nigeria, and then, through Twitter, inspired a worldwide hashtag campaign—#BringBackOurGirls—tweeted by celebrities from Oprah Winfrey to the Pope. America sent drones and intelligence officers to look for the girls, although they failed to rescue a single student.”
No one and nothing corroborates any aspect of your story and that is a huge disservice to the abductees. Making it right may afford you some redemption in this unfortunate saga.
I look forward to a your positive response on getting to the bottom of this.
Regards,
E. Ogebe
Special Counsel
Justice for Jos Project
