Nigeria Kidnap: PM's Anger Over 'Ghastly' Act

Experts from the UK and the US sent to Nigeria to help authorities find 276 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram have arrived in the capital Abuja.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said the British team, which includes officials from the Ministry of Defence, would now "advise and support" the Nigerian government.

"The team will be considering not just the recent incidents but also longer-term counter-terrorism solutions to prevent such attacks in the future and defeat Boko Haram," he added.

Prime Minister David Cameron described the situation as "ghastly" and described the kidnapping as "an act of pure evil".

The government has faced criticism of its response

The British group's arrival came after US military and intelligence experts touched down in Nigeria, more than three weeks after Islamist militants struck at a boarding school in the village of Chibok.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said: "Our inter-agency team ... (will) do everything it can to return these girls to their families and their communities.

"We're also going to do everything possible to counter the menace of Boko Haram."

The US team includes experts in intelligence, law enforcement and hostage negotiations but fewer than 10 soldiers are among them.

Washington is also considering a request to provide surveillance aircraft and intelligence, a senior US official told the Reuters news agency.

Goodluck Jonathan speaks at the World Economic Forum in Abuja

Earlier, a parent of one of the schoolgirls pleaded with countries from around the world to send more help.

Speaking to Sky News' Special Correspondent Alex Crawford, Shettima Haruma, whose daughter was among those taken, said he was "angry" with the Nigerian government's response.

"We need the government to get American people to come and help us," he said.

"We beg Nigerians, those in another country like America or (Britain) ... it's three weeks, nearly one month ... (and we haven't) seen any letters from our daughters."

The leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, has threatened to sell the girls "on the market" and some of the group have already reportedly been trafficked to neighbouring Chad and Cameroon.

Protesters march near the Nigerian embassy in Washington

A further 11 girls, aged 12 to 15, have also been abducted from the northeastern village of Warabe.

The search for the missing schoolgirls is focused around the huge Sambisa Forest - the "hideout" of Boko Haram, whose name is said to figuratively mean "Western education is forbidden".

Mr Jonathan said the abduction would be the "beginning of the end of terror" in the country, adding: "By God's grace we will conquer the terrorists".

A social media campaign backed by a number of celebrities has sought to raise awareness of the girls' plight.

The Twitter hashtag #BringBackOurGirls has been promoted by the likes of US First Lady Michelle Obama and actress Angelina Jolie, who told Sky News: "These men thought that they can get away with this, that they could abuse them in such a way, sell them, rape them, take them as property, because so many people have gotten away with this in the past because of this culture of impunity."

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