110 Nigerian Girls Have Been Kidnapped By Suspected Boko Haram Fighters

For nearly a week, 110 Nigerian school girls have been missing, an incident reminiscent of the 276 Chibok girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram extremists in 2014.

The Nigerian information ministry confirmed to Reuters that the schoolgirls from Government Girls Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe state have been unaccounted for since last week. Boko Haram extremists are suspected to be the likely culprits.

The government at one point reported that they had rescued dozens of girls after the attack. But NPR confirmed that this information was false.

“We have now established that the information we relied on to make the statement was not credible,” said Abdullahi Bego, Yobe State spokesman, on Thursday, according to media reports. “The Yobe State government apologizes for that.”
 
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari tweeted his dismay at the news of the kidnappings on Friday.

“This is a national disaster,” he tweeted. “We are sorry that it happened; we share your pain. Let me assure that our gallant armed forces will locate and safely return all the missing girls.”

In April of 2014, nearly 300 girls from Chibok, Nigeria were kidnapped by Boko Haram. The incident caught international attention and launched the social media campaign #BringBackOurGirls. Though many of the girls have been rescued, some still remain in captivity.