Nigerian government acknowledges 110 girls still missing

MAIDUGURI (AP):

Nigeria's government acknowledged yesterday that 110 girls remain missing nearly a week after Boko Haram militants attacked their town.

Frustrated family members already had compiled a list of missing girls after saying officials were being slow to respond.

The fate of the girls is not known, but witnesses said the Islamic extremists specifically asked where the girls' school was located. Some eyewitnesses reported seeing young women being taken away at gunpoint.

Information Minister Lai Mohammed made the announcement yesterday after meetings were held with family members and others, some of whom have criticised the government for taking days to make such an announcement.

Air Force spokesman Olatokunbo Adesanya said in a press statement yesterday that "the renewed efforts at locating the girls are being conducted in close liaison with other surface security forces".

Many fear the girls were abducted as brides for Boko Haram extremists.

The group kidnapped 276 girls from a boarding school in Chibok in 2014 and forced them to marry their captors. About 100 of the Chibok girls have never returned to their families in nearly four years.