Nigerian Defense Chief: We've Located the Abducted Girls
Air Marshal Alex Badeh spoke with demonstrators this afternoon in Abuja, Nigeria to confirm that the nearly 300 missing schoolgirls, who'd been abducted by Islamic extremists last month, have been located. However, Badeh remarked that the girls cannot be apprehended with force.
The reason for this, he notes, is that if the Nigerian military used force, the girls would surely be killed. As was reported by the Associated Press at the demonstration earlier today:
"We want our girls back. I can tell you we can do it. Our military can do it. But where they are held, can we go with force?" he asked the crowd.
People roared back, "No!"
Criticisms of the way Nigerian authorities have handled the abduction were clearly on Badeh's mind, as he announced at the demonstration that "Nobody should come and say the Nigerian military does not know what it is doing. We know what we are doing."
International forces got involved mid-May, the US sending 80 troops to aid in the search, joined by forces from Britain, France, and Israel. Protests of the Nigerian authorities have been ongoing and growing since the abduction.
The girls were abducted from the northern Nigerian town of Chibok on April 14. When Badeh was asked where the girls are located, he refused to reveal any details, and according to the report, no further plan was announced.
