UK experts join Nigeria girls hunt

Press Association – 

UK experts working in Nigeria to help rescue more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls have admitted they face "large information gaps".

The Nigerian government has been hit by stinging criticism, both at home and abroad, for being too slow to react since the girls were snatched from their school in Chibok by Islamic extremists Boko Haram on April 14.

A range of international experts are now responding to the crisis.

The UK advisory team in Nigerian capital Abuja have been in talks with senior officials including president Goodluck Jonathan and the national security adviser Sambo Dasuki in a bid to get to grips with the emergency.

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) spokesman said: "The scale and complexity of the incident and the environment means there are large information gaps.

"The priority for the team in the first instance is establishing the facts such as the precise identities of those taken and what has actually happened to help Nigeria build a better picture."

Yesterday the US first lady Michelle Obama said she was outraged and heartbroken by the abduction, as she took the rare step of making outspoken foreign policy remarks about the kidnappings.

In delivering husband Barack Obama's weekly video address, she condemned the "unconscionable" act, stating it was carried out by "a terrorist group determined to keep these girls from getting an education".

"Like millions of people across the globe, my husband and I are outraged and heartbroken," she said.

Demonstrations in support of the missing Nigerian girls have been held around the world and a social media campaign continues to grow.

Mrs Obama and girls' education campaigner Malala Yousafzai are among hundreds of people who have tweeted a photo of themselves with a sign reading #BringBackOurGirls in a show of support.

According to reports the search is closing in on a forest near the border with Cameroon and the girls have been divided into at least four groups which would make a rescue raid more difficult.

Britain is working with specialists from the US and other countries to co-ordinate search efforts. China, France and Spain have also promised help.

Officials from the Department for International Development (Dfid), FCO, Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Metropolitan Police are now in Abuja.

The MoD has already linked up with the Nigerian armed forces, including the military which has operational control of the region where the kidnaps took place. There has been a meeting with the Americans to determine joint arrangements, areas of responsibility and what the next moves may be.

Metropolitan Police officers, which include the family liaison officers personally requested by Mr Jonathan in a meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron, have met with Nigerian police to talk about how to tackle the huge demand for victim support.

Members of the UK team have also seen first-hand the pain and distress caused by the mass kidnapping in a meeting with a group representing the Chibok families, the FCO spokesman said.

Mounting international outrage over the mass kidnapping has increased by an alarming report by Amnesty International which claims Nigerian commanders were warned that armed men were beginning to arrive near Chibok, but the military were unable to raise enough troops to respond.

Nigerian security forces had four hours of notice about the attack but did not react because of their fear of engaging the extremists, according to the Amnesty International report.

Amnesty spokeswoman Susanna Flood said: "This abduction could have been prevented."

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