This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/06/suspected-boko-haram-gunmen-kidnap-girls-village-nigeria

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Suspected Boko Haram gunmen kidnap eight girls from village in Nigeria Suspected Boko Haram gunmen kidnap eight girls from village in Nigeria
(about 1 hour later)
Suspected Boko Haram gunmen kidnapped eight girls aged between 12 and 15 from a village near one of their strongholds in north-east Nigeria on Monday night, police and residents said on Tuesday. Suspected Boko Haram gunmen have kidnapped eight girls aged between 12 and 15 from a village near one of their strongholds in north-east Nigeria, police and residents say.
"They were many, and all of them carried guns. They came in two vehicles painted in army colour. They started shooting in our village," said Lazarus Musa, a resident of Warabe, where the attack happened. "They were many, and all of them carried guns. They came in two vehicles painted in army colour. They started shooting in our village," said Lazarus Musa, a resident of Warabe, where the attack happened on Monday night.
A police source, who could not be named, said the girls were taken away on trucks, along with looted livestock and food. "Many people tried to run behind the mountain but when they heard gunshots, they came back. The Boko Haram men were entering houses, ordering people out of their houses."
The Islamist rebels are still holding more than 200 girls they abducted from a secondary school on 14 April. A police source, who could not be named, said the girls had been taken away on trucks along with looted livestock and food.
Their plight and the failure of the Nigerian military to find them has drawn international attention to an escalating Islamic extremist insurrection that has killed more than 1,500 so far this year. The Islamist rebels are still holding more than 200 girls they abducted from a secondary school on 14 April. The Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau threatened to sell those girls "on the market" in a video released to the media on Monday. He said Allah had told him to sell the girls.
Boko Haram, which translates as "western education is sinful", has claimed responsibility for the mass kidnapping and in a video released on Monday the group's leader, Abubakar Shekau, said Allah had told him to sell the girls. Their plight and the failure of the Nigerian military to find them has drawn international attention to an escalating Islamic extremist insurrection that has killed more than 1,500 people so far this year.
The United Nations warned Islamist Boko Haram that there was no statute of limitations if they carried out their leader's threat. The United Nations warned Boko Haram, whose name means "western education is sinful", that there was no statute of limitations if they carried out their leader's threat to sell the girls.
"We warn the perpetrators that there is an absolute prohibition against slavery and sexual slavery in international law. These can under certain circumstances constitute crimes against humanity," UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a news briefing in Geneva. "We warn the perpetrators that there is an absolute prohibition against slavery and sexual slavery in international law. These can under certain circumstances constitute crimes against humanity," the UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a news briefing in Geneva.
"That means anyone responsible can be arrested, charged, prosecuted, and jailed at any time in the future. So just because they think they are safe now, they won't necessarily be in two years, five years or 10 years' time," he said."That means anyone responsible can be arrested, charged, prosecuted, and jailed at any time in the future. So just because they think they are safe now, they won't necessarily be in two years, five years or 10 years' time," he said.
He also urged Nigeria's federal and local authorities to work together to rescue the girls.He also urged Nigeria's federal and local authorities to work together to rescue the girls.
The military's inability to find the girls has led to protests in the north-east, Abuja and Lagos, the commercial capital. More are expected on Tuesday in Abuja, just as delegates will be collecting their badges to allow them entry to the hotel where a World Economic Forum meeting on Africa will take place from Wednesday to Friday.
A bomb in Abuja killed 19 people last week, another event that has embarrassed the government before the forum.