Three days after the leader of Boko Haram, Abubkar Shekau in a video threatened to sell at the market the abducted female students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno state, world leaders have risen to the challenge of assisting Nigeria to rescue the girls.
France, Britain, China and the United States vowed to deploy military logistics to Nigeria to locate and rescue the girls. Downing Street spokesman said Britain is sending a small team of experts to Nigeria to help respond to the kidnapping of the girls. The team will concentrate on planning, coordination and advice to local authorities rather than operations on the ground to look for the girls, who were seized by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram on April 14.
The announcement was made shortly after President Goodluck Jonathan accepted the offer in a telephone conversation with Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday.
The spokesman said the team would fly to Nigeria “as soon as possible.” According to the statement, the experts will be drawn from government departments including the defence, international development and foreign affairs ministries and may include military officers. It was not explained how large the team would be.
Speaking in parliament earlier, Cameron condemned the kidnapping as “pure evil”. “I’m the father of two young daughters and my reaction is the same as every father or mother in this land or the world,” he told the lower House of Commons.
“This is an act of pure evil, it has united people across the planet to stand with Nigeria to help find these children and return them to their parents.” He said Britain had made “repeated offers of help” since the kidnap.
“This is not just a Nigerian issue; it is a global issue,” he added. “There are extreme Islamists around our world who are against education, against progress, against equality and we must fight them and take them on wherever they are.”
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