Nigeria: Cardinal appeals for 'concrete action' to free kidnapped girls

Cardinal John Onaiyekan

Cardinal John Onaiyekan of Abuja has called for 'concrete action' to save the hundreds of girls kidnapped by Boko Haram nearly a month ago.

Cardinal Onaiyekan said: "It is still more baffling that our president seems to be impotent. We have to see concrete action. Up until now, we are hearing practically nothing concrete on the issue. I think almost every Nigerian is taken aback. We cannot explain what is happening".

Nearly 300 girls, were kidnapped on 14 April from their boarding school in Borno, Nigeria's northeastern-most state, by members of the radical Islamist group Boko Haram and this has sparked outrage across the world. Their fate is uncertain.

According to some witnesses about fifty girls have been seen passing near Tiringoulou and Birao, two towns in the north-eastern Central African Republic. In the night between the 4 and 5 of May, it seems the girls were brought from Birao to Tiringoulou where they were taken on board an aircraft coming from Sudan.

Yesterday Boko Haram released a video showing about 130 girls in Moslem dress, who they say have converted from Christianity to Islam. The leader of Boko Haram has demanded the release of members of the movement who are in Nigerian prisons in exchange for the release of the girls.

Source: Fides