Families await news of kidnapped schoolgirls

JANGEBE, NIGERIA » Families in Nigeria waited anxiously for news of their abducted daughters after more than 300 schoolgirls were kidnapped by gunmen from a government school in the country’s north last week, the latest in a series of mass school kidnappings in the West African nation.

Worried parents on Sunday gathered at the school, guarded by police. Aliyu Ladan Jangebe said his five daughters aged between 12 and 16 were at the school when the kidnappers stormed in. Four were taken away but one escaped by hiding in a bathroom with other girls, he told The Associated Press.

“We are not in (a) good mood because when you have five children and you are able to secure (just) one. We only thank God ... But we are not happy,” said Jangebe.