Video After The Jump
JANGEBE, Nigeria (AP) — Families in Nigeria waited anxiously for news of their abducted daughters after more than 300 schoolgirls were kidnapped by gunmen from a government school in the country’s north last week, the latest in a series of mass school kidnappings in the West African nation.
Worried parents on Sunday gathered at the school, guarded by police. Aliyu Ladan Jangebe said his 5 daughters aged between 12 & 16 were at the school when the kidnappers stormed in. 4 were taken away but 1 escaped by hiding in a bathroom with three other girls.
“We are not in (a) good mood because when you have 5 children & you are able to secure (just) 1. We only thank God ... But we are not happy,” said Jangebe.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said the government’s priority is to get all the hostages returned safe & unharmed. Police & the military have begun joint operations to rescue the girls.
The girls’ abduction has caused international outrage.
Pope Francis decried the kidnapping & prayed for the girls’ quick release on Sunday.
“I pray for these girls, so that they may return home soon ... I am close to their families & to them,″ Francis said.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the abductions & called for the girls’ “immediate & unconditional release.” He called attacks on schools a grave violation of human rights & the rights of children.
Nigeria has seen several such attacks in recent years. On Saturday, 24 students, 6 staff & 8 relatives were released after being abducted on February 17 from the Government Science College Kagara in Niger state. In December, more than 300 schoolboys from a secondary school in Kankara were taken & later released.
The most notorious kidnapping was in April 2014, when 276 girls were abducted by the jihadist rebels of Boko Haram from the secondary school in Chibok in Borno state. More than 100 of those girls are still missing.
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