SHAFAQNA- Pope Francis appealed for the release of 317 schoolgirls who were abducted in northwest Nigeria on Friday. Speaking at the Angelus prayer on Sunday, Pope Francis forcefully condemned the “vile kidnapping of 317 girls” in Nigeria’s Zamfara State. He invited everyone to pray for them, so that they might return home soon. “I am near to their families and to them,” said the Pope. “Let us pray that Our Lady might keep them safe.”
The incident took place on Friday morning in the town of Jangebe, in Nigeria’s Zamfara State. Unidentified gunmen entered Jangebe Government Girls’ Secondary School around midnight, shooting sporadically. The state’s Information Commissioner said they carried the girls off in vehicles and on foot. Security forces launched a search for the abducted schoolgirls, Vatican News reported.