234 girls kidnapped from a of school Nigeria
Chibok: Some 234 girls are missing from the northeast Nigerian school attacked last week by Islamic extremists, significantly more than the 85 reported by education officials, parents told the state governor on Monday.
The discrepancy in the figures could not immediately be resolved.
Security officials had warned Gov. Kashim Shettima that it was too dangerous for him to drive to Chibok, 130 kilometers (80 miles) from Maiduguri, the Borno state capital and birthplace of the Boko Haram terrorist network blamed for the abductions.
Twenty-eight pupils escaped from their captors between Tuesday and Friday. Then another 16 were found to be day scholars who had returned to their homes in Chibok before the attack. That left 85 missing students, according to school officials.
Security sources have said they are in "hot pursuit" of the abductors, but so far they have not rescued any of the girls and young women, aged between 16 and 18.
The kidnappings are believed to have been carried out by Nigeria's Islamic extremist rebels, known as Boko Haram. Boko Haram the nickname means "Western education is sinful" is violently campaigning to establish an Islamic Shariah state in Nigeria, whose 170 million people are about half Muslim and half Christian.
An editorial by the web site All Africa called Nigeria a failed state, citing a state of emergency in a third of the country and security concerns that should merit an emergency declaration in another third of the country.
The attacks come as oil-rich Nigeria prepares to celebrate its new status as Africa's biggest economy, replacing South Africa on the top rung. President Goodluck Jonathan announced he will deploy 6,000 additional troops to protect delegates to the World Economic Forum, set to take place next month in Abuja. But the declaration has prompted criticism among the nation's pundits and citizenry.
The discrepancy in the figures could not immediately be resolved.
Security officials had warned Gov. Kashim Shettima that it was too dangerous for him to drive to Chibok, 130 kilometers (80 miles) from Maiduguri, the Borno state capital and birthplace of the Boko Haram terrorist network blamed for the abductions.
Twenty-eight pupils escaped from their captors between Tuesday and Friday. Then another 16 were found to be day scholars who had returned to their homes in Chibok before the attack. That left 85 missing students, according to school officials.
Security sources have said they are in "hot pursuit" of the abductors, but so far they have not rescued any of the girls and young women, aged between 16 and 18.
The kidnappings are believed to have been carried out by Nigeria's Islamic extremist rebels, known as Boko Haram. Boko Haram the nickname means "Western education is sinful" is violently campaigning to establish an Islamic Shariah state in Nigeria, whose 170 million people are about half Muslim and half Christian.
An editorial by the web site All Africa called Nigeria a failed state, citing a state of emergency in a third of the country and security concerns that should merit an emergency declaration in another third of the country.
The attacks come as oil-rich Nigeria prepares to celebrate its new status as Africa's biggest economy, replacing South Africa on the top rung. President Goodluck Jonathan announced he will deploy 6,000 additional troops to protect delegates to the World Economic Forum, set to take place next month in Abuja. But the declaration has prompted criticism among the nation's pundits and citizenry.
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