Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan says he has asked for international help toward finding the 276 schoolgirls kidnapped last month. The militant Islamist group Boko Haram is suspected of abducting the girls during a night raid on their northeastern hostel. Jonathan and President Obama have spoken by phone to discuss the crisis, and Nigeria has made appeals to other world powers. Over the weekend, Jonathan held his first meeting with the major groups involved, including outraged parents, following criticism of a lackluster government response. In a televised interview with a panel of journalists, Jonathan pledged to win the girls’ release.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan: “We promise that wherever these girls are, we will surely get them out. One good thing that I’m a bit happy and I believe most Nigerians are happy is that there is no story that any of them has been hurt in terms of injured or that. I really sympathize and express my empathy to the parents and the relatives and of course the guardians of these girls. We are all fathers and mothers.”
Rallies Pressure Nigerian Government on Kidnapping; Protest Leader Says First Lady Ordered Arrest
Rallies were also held around the world this weekend to call for the release of kidnapped girls in Nigeria. A group of Nigerian expats led a rally Saturday in Washington, D.C.
OluwaTosin Adegbola: “Pressure. We’ve got to keep making noise, and we’ve got to keep making sure that the Nigerian government knows everybody’s watching. You can’t just sit by idly while this happens to your kids. Everybody’s watching. Do something.”
Edem Duke: “The president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has the might of the whole entire military of the country, he has financial resources at his disposal, and he could make things happen if he actually wants to make things happen. So there shouldn’t be any excuses.”
There are unverified reports the girls have been sold off, forced to marry their abductors, and taken across the border to Chad or Cameroon. Earlier today, a leader of the Nigerian protests for the girls’ return accused Nigerian First Lady Patience Jonathan of ordering her arrest.
