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L.A. joins worldwide appeal to bring back kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls

May 13, 2014

In this photo taken from video by Nigeria’s Boko Haram terrorist network, Monday May 12, 2014 shows the alleged missing girls abducted from the northeastern town of Chibok. The new video purports to show dozens of abducted schoolgirls, covered in jihab and praying in Arabic. It is the first public sight of the girls since more than 300 were kidnapped from a northeastern school the night of April 14 exactly four weeks ago. (AP Photo)

LOS ANGELES (CNS) – The five members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors today joined the worldwide appeal for the safe return of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by the militant group Boko Haram.

Supervisor Don Knabe, a leader in the fight against child trafficking in Los Angeles, called on his colleagues to recognize the girls’ plight. He and his four colleagues stood silently and posed for a photo holding cards prepped for Twitter with the popular hashtag Bring Back Our Girls.

The kidnapping of as many as 276 girls, about 50 of whom escaped, has generated an international outcry for their release, which built quickly through social media. First Lady Michelle Obama was among those who posted a
photo to Twitter with the now viral Bring Back Our Girls hashtag.

A video purporting to show some of the abducted girls cloaked in traditional Islamic hijabs was released yesterday by Agence France-Presse. In it, a man who identifies himself as Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau says the girls, who come from the mostly Christian village of Chibok, have converted to Islam.

He said he will only release the girls in an exchange for imprisoned members of his extremist group.

U.S. military intelligence experts and negotiators are in Nigeria to help with the search. The efforts of the Nigerian government have drawn the condemnation of many who say they have not moved quickly enough to rescue the
girls, who were taken April 14.