France on Wednesday offered to send security service agents to Nigeria to help recover more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by the Boko Haram sect

France on Wednesday offered to send security service agents to Nigeria to help
recover more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by the Boko Haram sect, Foreign
Minister, Laurent Fabius, said.

With more than 4,000 troops operating between Mali to the west and Central
African Republic to the east, Paris has a major interest in preventing Nigeria’s
security situation from deteriorating, having previously voiced concerns Boko
Haram could spread further north into the Sahel.

“The President has instructed … to put the (intelligence) services at the disposal
of Nigeria and neighbouring countries,” Reuters quoted Fabius as saying to
lawmakers.

“This morning he asked us to contact the Nigerian president to tell him that a
specialised unit with all the means we have in the region was at the disposal of
Nigeria to help find and recover these young girls.”

Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls last month and has threatened
to sell them into slavery.

“In the face of such ignominy France must react. This crime cannot be left
unpunished,” Fabius said.