President Barack Obama publicly addressed the dire situation of almost 300 kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls for the first time on Tuesday. The President said that the U.S. would everything possible to find the kidnapped girls and a team would be sent to search for the missing young women.
“In the short term our goal is obviously to help the international community, and the Nigerian government, as a team to do everything we can to recover these young ladies,” Obama said. “But we’re also going to have to deal with the broader problem of organizations like this...can cause such havoc in people’s day-to-day lives.”
Secretary of State John Kerry explained that the U.S. has been in contact with the Nigerian government “from day one” but Nigerian had expressed a desire to manage the situation domestically. But Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has now accepted the offer for U.S. assistance reports The Huffington Post.
“I think now the complications that have arisen have convinced everybody that there needs to be a greater effort. And it will begin immediately. I mean, literally, immediately,” Kerry said.
The President expressed deep regret for the situation and hopes to free the girls before any harm comes to them. “...as a father of two girls, I can’t imagine what their parents are going through,” he said.
Publication date: May 7, 2014
