Nigeria abductions: Headmistress pleads for girls' lives

The headmistress of a school in Nigeria has appealed to the government to do more to save teenage girls abducted by suspected Islamist militants on Monday. Speaking to the BBC, Asabe Kwambula also called on the kidnappers to "have mercy on the students". Her plea came after the military admitted that most of the girls had not been freed as it earlier stated. According to education authorities in Borno state, 85 girls are still missing and 44 in total have managed to escape. But some parents suggested the number of those in captivity was higher.It is thought militant group Boko Haram took the girls from the remote boarding school in the north-east to forested areas near the Cameroonian border. Intensive efforts to find them were continuing, an army spokesman said on Friday. 'Save innocents' Ms Kwambula said she had so far "registered" 32 students as having escaped, adding they appeared to be unharmed. "I am pleading with the government to secure the release of the children, to save the lives of these innocents," she told the BBC's Will Ross."I am with the parents, praying continuously for the teenagers' safe return." Correspondents say the raid on the boarding school is a great source of embarrassment for the Nigerian authorities, who have been saying that their military campaign against the militants is succeeding. The attack on the school in Chibok happened late on Monday, with gunmen reportedly storming the school, stealing food supplies and ordering the students on to lorries. Some of the girls later managed to jump off the trucks, while others ran from captivity during prayer time or while they were cooking. The security forces have been working with vigilante groups and local hunters to find the schoolgirls. The well-armed Boko Haram fighters have killed hundreds of civilians this year, slitting the throats of many of their victims, our reporter says. Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states in north-east Nigeria have been under emergency rule since last May. Militants from Boko Haram - which means "Western education is forbidden" in the local Hausa language - frequently target educational institutions.