UN envoy meets Nigerian president over abducted schoolgirls

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon's High-Level Representative Said Djinnit on Wednesday discussed the abducted schoolgirls and the world body's role in helping their release with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria.

Djinnit, who has been tasked by Ban to go to Nigeria to discuss the issues, also met with several other Nigerian officials. During these meetings, he explained that the UN is preparing to support the affected families and the girls after their release, said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for the Secretary-General, at a regular briefing at the UN headquarters in New York.

The envoy also "reaffirmed the UN's support to Nigeria within the framework of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy," said Dujarric, stressing UN's role of supporting regional cooperation in seeking the safe release of the abducted schoolgirls.

Dujarric also clarified that the UN does not have assets on the ground or the mandate for counter-terrorism operations in Nigeria.

About 270 girls from Chibok community in northeastern Nigeria's Borno State were abducted in April. Extremists group Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the act in a video and threatened to sell the girls.

"The threat posed by Boko Haram is not an isolated issue. It requires us to strengthen counter-terrorism and our efforts against piracy, human trafficking and the illicit drug trade. In a region with porous borders, it demands strengthened regional cooperation," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on the abduction Monday.

The UN Security Council intended to "consider appropriate measures" against Boko Haram and pledged to continue actively following the situation concerning the abducted schoolgirls, it said in a statement last Friday. Endite