( CNN ) -- For weeks , Nigerian officials said that more than 200 Nigerian school girls would finally be freed . When it fell apart , there was nothing but devastation . Over and over , sources told CNN 's Isha Sesay that negotiations between the government and Boko Haram , the group that snatched the girls in April , were getting somewhere . The journalist was assured that the Islamist terror group had agreed to a cease-fire , and as part of that deal , the girls would be able to return to their families . For once , Sesay allowed herself to feel optimistic . A native of Sierra Leone , the journalist was personally drawn to the tragedy that inspired the global campaign `` Bring Back Our Girls . '' `` Those girls were poor , from a remote part of Nigeria , '' in Chibok in Borno State , Sesay said . The area has been long ignored , and the people there have gotten by on very little , she said . The girls were kidnapped while they were at school . `` They were just trying to get an education , '' Sesay said . `` But for the grace of God , I come from an educated family and my life has been different . It 's the power of education that has allowed me to become a CNN anchor . These girls were in school to change their circumstances . '' Sesay got on a plane to Nigeria days ago as sources told her that the girls ' freedom was imminent . When she landed she started to hear more from journalists who have extensively covered Boko Haram , and from those who knew how the terror group operated . They were suspicious , and doubted that the government was really in talks with the terrorists . There were other red flags . No one from Boko said anything about the supposed cease-fire . In fact , members remained active in northeastern Nigeria , and actually carried out more attacks and child abductions . Sesay and her CNN crew kept hoping . Maybe it was simple banditry in the north , she reasoned . It was hard to bear the idea that the girls would n't be freed . `` We wanted to believe , '' she said . `` We gave ( Nigerian officials ) the benefit of the doubt , I suppose . '' A crushing video . On November 1 , a video appeared of Boko Haram leader , Abubakar Shekau saying no cease-fire been reached . The girls were not going to be released , he said , laughing . They had converted to Islam and were married off . `` They are , '' he said , `` in the marital homes . '' It was a crushing blow . `` It was like he was saying , 'This is done , ' `` Sesay recalled . After the video was released , Nigeria 's government asserted that negotiations had happened , and Shekau had gone back on promises he 'd made during those talks . `` We 've heard about the video , and we can say the road to peace is bumpy -- and you can not expect otherwise , '' a spokesman said . `` Nigeria has been fighting a war , and wars do n't end overnight . '' In late October , Human Rights Watch released a report on Boko Haram violence against women and girls in Nigeria . The group interviewed kidnap victims including a dozen of the Chibok girls who escaped . The girls had been imprisoned in eight Boko Haram camps in the Sambisa Forest Reserve , the report said . The women and girls who refused to convert to Islam were physically and sexually assaulted , HRW said , and some were forced to marry their captors . Men and boys who were abducted , the report says , were given the choice of joining the group or being murdered . What gives Boko Haram its strength ? 'How could they do this ? ' Before she left Nigeria , Sesay called Obiageli Ezekwesili , a former Nigerian government official and one of the leaders of the Bring Back Our Girls campaign . `` She sounded sick with grief when she answered the phone , '' Sesay recalled . `` I said ... 'Are you OK ? ' which is ... so stupid . She was just -- her voice was hoarse with pain . She said , 'How could they do this ? ' `` Ezekwesili said she was n't sure if the parents of the girls would recover . Sesay said she is committed to continue to tell the girls ' stories . Each is a person . Each deserves to live out their unique passions and paths . `` We have to keep asking questions , '' she said . `` We have set expectations low in terms of getting meaningful answers . That ca n't continue . '' Boko Haram -- the essence of terror .
CNN 's Isha Sesay is personally driven to continue to tell the story of kidnapped Nigerian school girls . She went to Africa because sources told her that terror group Boko Haram would release the girls . The kidnapping happened in April 2014, and it was a huge shock for everyone who knew about this issue. The turn of events felt like a crushing blow to so many who have fought for the girls to return home .