Nigerian abductions: Michelle Obama 'outraged and heartbroken'

 
“Bring them back”: Mrs Obama with her message

Michelle Obama has said the mass kidnapping of Nigerian schoolgirls forms part of a wider pattern of “grown men attempting to snuff out the aspirations of young girls."

She said both herself and her husband President Barack Obama are “outraged and heartbroken” over the abduction of more than 300 girls in April 15 while they were at school.

The US First Lady made the comments after she took over the president’s on the eve of the American holiday for honouring mothers this morning.

"In these girls, Barack and I see our own daughters,” she said, referring to Malia, 15, and Sasha, 12.

"We see their hopes, their dreams and we can only imagine the anguish their parents are feeling right now."

What happened in Nigeria is not an isolated incident, she said, but is "a story we see every day as girls around the world risk their lives to pursue their ambitions."

Mrs. Obama mentioned the case of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager who survived being shot in the head as she traveled to school in 2012.

In Saturday's address, the first lady asked the nation to pray for the Nigerian girls' safe return.

"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," she said.

"Let us hold their families in our hearts during this very difficult time, and let us show just a fraction of their courage in fighting to give every girl on this planet the education that is her birthright."

Yesterday a UK hostage team arrived in Nigeria to step up the hunt for the 276 girls who were captured by the Islamist Boko Haram organisation.

Authorities have said there were more than 300 girls abducted from the school. Fifty-three escaped and 276 remain captive.

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