Abducted girls: US deploys surveillance aircraft over Nigeria

Washington: The United States has deployed manned surveillance aircraft over Nigeria and is sharing satellite imagery with the Nigerian government to find more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by Islamist insurgents, a senior Obama administration official said on Monday. “We have shared commercial satellite imagery with the Nigerians and are flying manned … assets over Nigeria with the government’s permission,” the official said. [caption id=“attachment_1521019” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A man holds a placard as youths protest the release of abducted school girls in the remote village of Chibok. Reuters.[/caption] The United States has sent military, law-enforcement and development experts to Nigeria to help search for the missing girls who were kidnapped from a secondary school in Chibok in remote northeastern Nigeria on 14 April. Last week, US Undersecretary for Africa Linda Thomas-Greenfield told Reuters in an interview that Nigeria had requested surveillance and intelligence from the United States.. Both Nigeria and the United States have said they do not know the whereabouts of the girls, although Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has said he believes they are still in Nigeria. Reuters