First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama has taken the rare step of delivering her husband
President Barack Obama's weekly radio address on Saturday to express
outrage over the kidnapping of some 200 girls in Nigeria last month.
"Like millions
of people across the globe, my husband and I are outraged and
heartbroken over the kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian girls from
their school dormitory in the middle of the night," Mrs. Obama said in
the address.
"This
unconscionable act was committed by a terrorist group determined to keep
these girls from getting an education - grown men attempting to snuff
out the aspirations of young girls."
Nigerian
President Goodluck Jonathan said on Friday he believed the girls,
abducted by militant Islamist group Boko Haram, were still in his
country.
Militants stormed a
secondary school in the village of Chibok, near the Cameroon border, on
April 14, and kidnapped the girls, who were taking exams at the time.
Fifty have since escaped, but more than 200 remain with the insurgents.
The
United States offered this week to send a team of experts to Nigeria to
support the government's response effort, which has been criticized for
being slow.
"I want you to know that
Barack has directed our government to do everything possible to support
the Nigerian government's efforts to find these girls and bring them
home," Mrs. Obama said. "In these girls, Barack and I see our own
daughters. We see their hopes, their dreams - and we can only imagine
the anguish their parents are feeling right now."
The
first lady noted that the school where the girls were abducted had been
closed recently because of terrorist threats, but the girls insisted on
coming back to take exams.
"They
were so determined to move to the next level of their education...so
determined to one day build careers of their own and make their families
and communities proud," she said.
"And what happened in Nigeria was not an isolated incident. It's a story we see every day as girls around the world risk their lives to pursue their ambitions."<Reuters>
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