US President Barack Obama has decried the spate of kidnappings in Nigeria especially the recent abduction of over 200 school girls in Chibok, Borno state describing it as “heartbreaking” and “outrageous” .
“It’s a heartbreaking situation, outrageous situation,” Obama said in an interview with US broadcaster ABC on Tuesday.
The girls were abducted on 14, April, 2014 sparking global outrage, and the mass kidnapping may constitute a crime against humanity, according to the UN.
The Boko Haram sect’s leader Abubakar Shekau had on Monday in a video posted on the internet claimed responsibility for the abduction saying the girls were being held as “slaves” threatening to “sell them in the market”.
The US president said, “this may be the event that helps to mobilize the entire international community to finally do something against this horrendous organization that’s perpetrated such a terrible crime.”
Obama confirmed that Nigeria had accepted a US offer to send a team of experts to help find the missing girls, saying “we’ve already sent in a team to Nigeria,” consisting of “military, law enforcement, and other agencies.”
This team will work to “identify where in fact these girls might be and provide them help,” the US president said, denouncing Boko Haram as “one of the worst regional or local terrorist organizations.”
