Downing Street said today it would consider sending military assistance to help fight Islamist extremists in Nigeria if the UK was asked.
The statement comes as the African country’s government struggles to track down militants who kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls last month. Foreign Secretary William Hague confirmed earlier today that Britain had offered help but would not discuss what from it would take.
Asked whether Britain’s aid could include military assistance, David Cameron’s official spokesman told a Westminster media briefing: “I am not aware that any requests have been made yet. But we will consider any requests that are made.”
Extremist group Boko Haram has said that it intends to sell the girls, aged 16 to 18. The kidnapping has sparked outrage from the White House, which has also offered help to try to rescue them, and protests outside the Nigerian Embassy in London. It comes ahead of an international summit in the capital next month aimed at tackling sexual violence in war zones.
Speaking before a meeting of the Council of Europe in Vienna, Mr Hague said of the kidnapping: “It is disgusting, it is immoral, it should show everybody across the world that they should not give any support to such a vile organisation. Our hearts go out to (the girls’) families.”
In total 273 girls were abducted from their boarding school in the north-eastern Nigerian town of Chibok on April 14. While around 50 have reportedly escaped, some 220 are still missing.
The leader of Boko Haram, which means “Western education is forbidden”, confirmed in a video that his group had taken the girls. It has previously attacked numerous educational institutions in northern Nigeria and is fighting to oust the government.
Abubakar Shekau said the girls should not have been in school in the first place but should get married.
He said in the video: “God instructed me to sell them, they are his properties and I will carry out his instructions.”
Reports last week said some girls had been forced to marry their abductors, who paid a bride price of £7. Others are reported to have been taken across borders into Cameroon and Chad.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan is facing growing criticism over the kidnapping and has admitted security forces still do not know where the girls are being held.
Over the weekend protesters outside the Nigerian embassy in London were joined by Labour’s Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy and waved banners saying “bring back our girls” and chanted “free our sisters”.
White House spokesman Jay Carney described the kidnapping as “an outrage and a terrible tragedy” and said President Obama was monitoring developments. Mr Carney added: “The state department has been in regular touch with the Nigerian government about what we might do to help support its efforts to find and free these young women.”
He said the US was also offering counter-terrorism aid that involved “information-sharing” and improving Nigeria’s “forensics and investigative capacity”. Six US senators have also introduced a resolution supporting the Nigerian people and calling for the immediate return of the girls. Senator Dick Durbin, one of the sponsors, called the kidnapping “an affront to the civilised world”.
Next month Mr Hague and Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, who is special envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, will co-chair the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict. The event, on June 10 to 13, at the ExCel convention centre will be the largest gathering on the issue.Mr Hague added: “[The] London summit will address the impunity that surrounds crimes like the Nigerian schoolgirls’ kidnap.”
