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Nigeria offers $300,000 reward for help finding kidnapped schoolgirls Nigeria offers $300,000 reward for help finding kidnapped schoolgirls
(about 2 hours later)
Police in Nigeria have offered a $300,000 (£177,000) cash reward for credible information leading to the rescue of more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by the Islamist group Boko Haram. Nigerian police have offered a 50m naira (£177,000, or $300,000) reward for information on the whereabouts of 276 girls kidnapped by Islamist rebels three weeks ago in a sign that the government has begun to react to growing pressure at home and abroad.
The call for help follows the US and Britain offering military and technical support to Nigeria to hunt down the group, which abducted a second group of schoolgirls on Monday, as Barack Obama led a mounting international outcry.The call for help follows the US and Britain offering military and technical support to Nigeria to hunt down the group, which abducted a second group of schoolgirls on Monday, as Barack Obama led a mounting international outcry.
A statement from the Nigerian police high command said anyone who "volunteers credible information that will lead to the location and rescue of the female students" was eligible for the 50m naira reward. It said "any information given would be treated anonymously and with utmost confidentiality". A statement from the Nigerian police high command said anyone who "volunteers credible information that will lead to the location and rescue of the female students" was eligible for the reward. It said "any information given would be treated anonymously and with utmost confidentiality".
Boko Haram is holding 257 girls from a raid on a school on 15 April and a further eight, aged between eight and 15, taken in an overnight raid on a village in the sect's stronghold in north-eastern Borno state on Monday. Boko Haram is holding 276 girls from a raid on a school in Chibok on 15 April and a further eight, aged between eight and 15, taken in an overnight raid on a village in the sect's stronghold in north-eastern Borno state on Monday. Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the group's main faction, released a video on Monday in which he threatened to sell the schoolgirls as slaves. Rights groups have documented the brutal treatment of women and girls who were previously abducted and used as sex slaves.
Parents said the video, which showed Shekau laughing as he made his taunts, had confirmed their worst fears. "There is no way to describe what we are feeling because of this news. It is just one long nightmare," said one mother whose daughter and niece were both abducted.
In Chibok, desperate relatives welcomed news of assistance from the US and UK. "I just wish they could have done this earlier. Maybe by now we would have had our girls back," said a teacher, Danuma Mpur, whose two nieces were taken.
Local officials arrived in the village earlier on Wednesday morning for a meeting expected to last several hours. Parents had asked for the meeting to be held in the school grounds, surrounded by charred buildings, Mpur added.
Danjuma Mohamed, a resident of Waraba village, where the other eight girls were abducted on Monday, said: "The Boko Haram live in the bush all around us. We are willing to help the soldiers even if it is a risk for us."
On Monday, the insurgents razed a local market and killed at least 52 in Gamborou, another border town. They said the hours-long attack was in retaliation for locals "collaborating" with soldiers stationed across the state as part of state-of-emergency measures declared last year.
Nigeria's hosting of the World Economic Forum this week has been overshadowed by the incident. Demonstrators planned to hold a sit-in on Wednesday afternoon, despite tight security seeing swaths of the capital, Abuja, virtually empty.
The offers from Washington and London follow widespread criticism of the Nigerian government's perceived sluggish response to the crisis.
David Cameron told parliament on Wednesday that the abduction was "an act of pure evil" and he planned to speak to the Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, later in the day.
"It's united people across the planet to stand with Nigeria to help find these children and return them to their parents," he told MPs. "Britain stands ready to provide any assistance immediately we can, working very closely with the US."
Obama said the US was doing its utmost to help resolve the "terrible situation" but stopped short of offering to send troops – in contrast to Britain, which is prepared to send special forces and intelligence-gathering aircraft.
"In the short term our goal is obviously to help the international community, and the Nigerian government, as a team to do everything we can to recover these young ladies," Obama told NBC on Tuesday night. "But we're also going to have to deal with the broader problem of organisations like this that ... can cause such havoc in people's day-to-day lives.""In the short term our goal is obviously to help the international community, and the Nigerian government, as a team to do everything we can to recover these young ladies," Obama told NBC on Tuesday night. "But we're also going to have to deal with the broader problem of organisations like this that ... can cause such havoc in people's day-to-day lives."
Obama said the US was doing its utmost to help resolve the "terrible situation" but stopped short of offering to send troops – in contrast to Britain, which is prepared to send special forces and intelligence gathering aircraft.
The offers from Washington and London follow widespread criticism of the Nigerian government's perceived sluggish response to the crisis. Relatives of the girls have protested in the capital, Abuja.
Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, has threatened to sell the captives into slavery and said militants would attack more schools and abduct more girls. The group's name means "Western education is sinful". In a separate atrocity this week militants reportedly shot at least 52 people in a remote village.
The United Nations warned that any parties participating in the buying or selling of the schoolgirls could face prosecution under international law. "We warn the perpetrators that there is an absolute prohibition against slavery and sexual slavery in international law," said UN rights spokesperson Rupert Colville. "So just because they think they are safe now, they won't necessarily be in two years, five years or 10 years' time."