As international pressure increases on the government of Nigeria to find the schoolgirls who were abducted by Islamic militants on April 14, the government has announced a reward to anyone with information. The announcement comes a day after the U.S. government said that it will send a team of specialists to the country to help.
A $310,000 reward is being offered by the Nigerian Police Force. According to CNN, police assured the public that their identity would not be made public if they have any information that can help them find the missing girls.
This comes as President Goodluck Johnson has had to defend his administration’s response to the mass kidnappings, which the militant group Boko Haram has taken credit for. It was also reported that more girls were abducted this week by the same group.
“The President and the government (are) not taking this as easy as people all over the world think,” Doyin Okupe, a spokesman for the president, said. “We've done a lot, but we are not talking about it. We're not Americans. We're not showing people, you know, but it does not mean that we are not doing something.”
On Tuesday, the Obama Administration offered to send a group of military and law enforcement personnel to help find the girls. Johnson accepted the offer, with the government stating that the U.S. “is wholly committed to giving Nigeria all required support and assistance to save the abducted girls and bring the reign of terror unleashed on parts of the country by Boko Haram to an end.”
“We're going to do everything we can to provide assistance to them,” U.S. President Barack Obama told NBC News Tuesday.
Over 200 girls were abducted from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State last month. Boko Haram’s leader referred to the girls as their ‘slaves’ and said they plan to sell them into marriage.