Grieving mothers have gathered at the Nigerian school where more than two hundred school girls were taken by Islamist militants.
Human rights officials and Islamic scholars denounced the mass kidnapping as “a gross misinterpretation of Islam,” and demanded the schoolgirls’ release.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan pledged to bring the girls home.
The kidnapping crisis overshadowed his address to the World Economic Forum.
“Your coming here to support us morally is a major blow to the terrorists and by God’s grace we will conquer the terrorists,” said Jonathan.
High profile individuals such as Angelina Jolie and Michelle Obama have helped draw attention to the plight of the girls and to an escalating extremist insurgency.
Militant group Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for taking the schoolgirls. The group’s name means “Western education is sinful.”
Girls’ education activist Malala Yousafzai, who herself was the target of Taliban shooting two years ago for going to school, has joined an online campaign.
The twitter hashtag #BringBackOurGirls has been re-tweeted more than one million times. That’s helping keep the world’s focus fixed on finding the girls.
