Outrage grows 2 weeks after Nigeria schoolgirls kidnapped

Nigerian parents lashed out Tuesday at the government'sfailure to rescue scores of schoolgirls kidnapped two weeks ago by Boko HaramIslamists, as a local leader claimed the hostages had been sold as wives abroad."May God curse every one of those who has failed to free our girls," said EnochMark, whose daughter and two nieces were among the more than 100 studentsabducted from the Government Girls Secondary School in the Chibok area of thenortheastern state of Borno.The attack was one of the most shocking in Boko Haram's five-year uprising, whichhas claimed thousands of lives across northern and central Nigeria.The outrage that followed the mass abduction has been compounded by disputesover how many girls were seized and criticism of the military's search-and-rescueeffort.Borno officials have said 129 girls were kidnapped when gunmen stormed theschool after sundown on April 14 and forced the students -- who are between 12 and17 years old -- onto a convoy of trucks. Officials said 52 have since escaped.Locals, including the school's principal, have rejected those numbers, insisting that230 students were snatched and that 187 are still being held hostage.Mark told AFP that his wife has hardly slept since the attack, lying awake at night"thinking about our daughter".- Sold as brides? -Pogo Bitrus, leader of a Chibok elders group, told AFP that locals had been trackingthe movements of the hostages with the help of "various sources" across thenortheast."From the information we received yesterday from Cameroonian border towns ourabducted girls were taken... into Chad and Cameroon," he said.The girls were then sold as brides to Islamist fighters for 2,000 naira ($12) each,Bitrus added.There was however no independent confirmation of his report and the defenceministry did not immediately answer calls seeking comment.Some of the girls who escaped have said the hostages were taken to Borno'sSambisa Forest area, where Boko Haram has well-fortified camps. Boko Haram's name translates as "Western education is forbidden", and it hasrepeatedly attacked schools during an insurgency aimed at creating a strict Islamicstate in mainly Muslim northern Nigeria.The Islamists have set schools on fire, massacred students in their sleep anddetonated bombs at university campus churches.President Goodluck Jonathan has faced scathing criticism over the attacks and thepressure has mounted since the Chibok kidnappings.Locals have scoured the bushlands of the remote region, pooling money to buy fuelfor motorcycles and cars to conduct their own rescue effort, saying they have noconfidence in the military's search."The free movement of the kidnappers in huge convoys with their captives for twoweeks without being traced by the military which claims to be working diligently tofree the girls is unbelievable," Bitrus told AFP.Nigeria deployed thousands of additional troops to the northeast last year as partof an offensive aimed at crushing Boko Haram, but security experts say the militarylacks the troops needed to fully cover the region.- 'Rescue our daughters' -Dozens of Borno women clad in black staged a protest Tuesday in front of Nigeria'sparliament.The placard-carrying women rolled on the ground wailing and crying for help torescue their daughters."Free the abducted children," "Chibok is crying," and "Mr President, rescue ourdaughters," read some of the placards.Protest leader Naomi Mutah told three senators who received the group that theydid not know the whereabouts of the girls, saying some might have crossed over to Chad."Our grievance is this: For the past two weeks and this is the third week, we have notheard anybody talking to us," said Mutah."They are suffering in the bush. Let them (authorities) help us to free them," anotherprotester said. In a motion Tuesday, the senate urged the government and security agencies to seekthe cooperation of other countries and the UN Security Council in the rescue effort.An organisation called Women for Peace and Justice has called for a "million-womanprotest march" in the capital Abuja on Wednesday to demand that more resources be committed to securing the girls' release.While the group is unlikely to rally a crowd of that size, support for the movementhas been growing on Twitter under #BringBackOurGirls.