14 May 2014

Hundreds march against abductions

8:45 pm on 14 May 2014

Hundreds of people have marched in Wellington and Christchurch in support of the abducted Nigerian school girls.

Two protesters outside Parliament

Two protesters outside Parliament Photo: Lena Hesselgrave/The Wireless

Among those who marched were 270 Wellington schoolgirls, who wanted to illustrate the scale of the abduction.

The crowd heard speeches from Wellington's Mayor Celia Wade-Brown, the Education Minister Hekia Parata, and the Labour leader David Cunliffe, as well as rally organisers.

Ms Wade-Brown said the abduction came at a time when New Zealand students were thinking of their futures.

Change A Life Foundation executive director Jumoke Giwa, of Nigeria, said abductions happened every day in her homeland but it was the scale of this case which was atrocious.

Watch the Wellington march

Christchurch protestor Manin Mengistie said people worldwide needed to know innocent girls were being used as political pawns.

"We see it on the news and we kind of just ignore it. We shouldn't be like that. The more of us that are aware of it, the more of us that say it's not okay, maybe the less this will happen," Ms Mengistie said.

Ready to negotiate

The Nigerian Government has indicated it is ready to negotiate with the Islamist militant group Boko Haram over the release of more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped last month.

A committee has been set up by President Goodluck Jonathan to find ways of talking to Boko Haram.

The leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau issued a video on Tuesday offering to release the schoolgirls in exchange for the group's prisoners held by the government.

A screengrab from the video released by Boko Haram shows a man claiming to be its leader Abubakar Shekau.

A screengrab from the video released by Boko Haram shows a man claiming to be its leader Abubakar Shekau. Photo: AFP

Chair of the president's committee, Tanimu Turaki, said if Shekau was sincere, he should send representatives for talks.

The video showed about 130 of the girls wearing hijabs and reciting Koranic verses.

The governor of north-eastern Borno state, Kashim Shettima, told the BBC that all those seen in the 27 minutes of footage were identified as the abducted schoolgirls from Chibok Secondary School.

One mother watched the video and spotted her daughter among the girls sitting on the ground.

It's not known where the video was filmed or where the girls are now.

A screengrab from the Boko Haram video of shows girls, wearing the full-length hijab and praying in a rural location.

A screengrab from the Boko Haram video shows girls, wearing the full-length hijab and praying in a rural location. Photo: AFP

United States surveillance aircraft are flying over remote areas of northeast Nigeria as part of the international hunt for them.

Thousands of Nigerian troops have been sent to the region, while the United States and Britain also have teams on the ground to help with the search.

The BBC reported that the Nigerian government appeared to have changed its stance in relation to talks, because it initially suggested there would be no negotiations with Boko Haram.