[May 10, 2014]WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. first
lady Michelle Obama took the rare step of delivering her husband
President Barack Obama's weekly radio address on Saturday to express
outrage over the kidnapping of some 200 girls in Nigeria last month.
"Like millions of people across the globe, my husband and I are
outraged and heartbroken over the kidnapping of more than 200
Nigerian girls from their school dormitory in the middle of the
night," Mrs. Obama said in the address.
"This unconscionable act was committed by a terrorist group
determined to keep these girls from getting an education - grown men
attempting to snuff out the aspirations of young girls."
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said on Friday he believed the
girls, abducted by militant Islamist group Boko Haram, were still in
his country.
Militants stormed a secondary school in the village of Chibok, near
the Cameroon border, on April 14, and kidnapped the girls, who were
taking exams at the time. Fifty have since escaped, but more than
200 remain with the insurgents.
The United States offered this week to send a team of experts to
Nigeria to support the government's response effort, which has been
criticized for being slow.
"I want you to know that Barack has directed our government to do
everything possible to support the Nigerian government's efforts to
find these girls and bring them home," Mrs. Obama said. "In these
girls, Barack and I see our own daughters. We see their hopes, their
dreams - and we can only imagine the anguish their parents are
feeling right now."
The first lady noted that the school where the girls were abducted
had been closed recently because of terrorist threats, but the girls
insisted on coming back to take exams.
"They were so determined to move to the next level of their
education...so determined to one day build careers of their own and
make their families and communities proud," she said.
"And what happened in Nigeria was not an isolated incident. It's a
story we see every day as girls around the world risk their lives to
pursue their ambitions."
