- Title: USA: Candlelit vigil held in Los Angeles for kidnapped Nigerian girls
- Date: 12th May 2014
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) CYNTHIA MCKEE, VIGIL PARTICIPANT, SAYING: "I'm eleven, and I came because my friend Effie was making a speech, and I'd like to support the girls who were kidnapped."
- Embargoed: 27th May 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Topics: General,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA4C22LMJF1BUJ4ESP3N59KVO16
- Story Text: People gathered in Los Angeles, California on Sunday (May 11), to hold a vigil for the more than 200 girls abducted by Islamist rebels in Nigeria last month.
Dozens of people came together in central L.A., lighting candles, singing and holding signs.
Alicia Menakaya, who's family is from Nigeria, said that she wanted to do whatever she could to help out.
"I really want to support the cause, I believe in the cause. We need to find our girls and I want to help, and I want everyone else to as well. I'm Nigerian, these are my people, and it doesn't even matter that I'm Nigerian. These girls need to be found, and I can't believe they haven't been yet," Menakaya said.
A number of younger girls attended the vigil as well. Macy Miller, 13, explained that the reason she was attending the event was very simple.
"To support the girls who were stolen and try and bring them back," she told Reuters.
So far, the Nigerian army has posted two divisions of soldiers to look for the abducted girls.
The soldiers are stationed in the border region close to Chad, Cameroon and Niger to work with other security agencies, according to the Nigerian military.
The government of President Goodluck Jonathan has faced criticism for its slow response since Boko Haram militants stormed a secondary school in the village of Chibok, near the Cameroon border, on April 14, and kidnapped the girls, who were taking exams. Fifty have escaped, but more than 200 remain with the insurgents. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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