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(CNN) -- Amid news of more Nigerian girls being kidnapped by a militant Islamist group, the country's President said he welcomed an offer for U.S. support in the search for them, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday.
The U.S. Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, is ready to create a "coordination cell" to provide intelligence, investigations and hostage negotiation expertise, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. The cell would include U.S. military personnel, she said.
Secretary of State John Kerry called Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday to reiterate an offer to help, Psaki said. The conversation happened on the same day that CNN and the Reuters news agency confirmed that at least eight more girls were snatched in Warabe village, which is in the northeastern part of the country.
(http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.e/img/3.0/mosaic/bttn_close.gif) (http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140506072704-pkg-london-nigeria-protest-00011721-story-body.jpg)London joins campaign for kidnapped girls (http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.e/img/3.0/mosaic/bttn_close.gif) (http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140506063425-newday-dnt-nigeria-kidnapped-girls-00010402-story-body.jpg)Kidnapper: I will sell them in the market (http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.e/img/3.0/mosaic/bttn_close.gif) Women march together on Monday, May 5, and call for the Nigerian government to rescue over 200 schoolgirls who were kidnapped last month in Chibok, Nigeria. The girls were taken by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which means "Western education is sin." People rally in Lagos, Nigeria, on Thursday, May 1. Police stand guard during a demonstration in Lagos on May 1. Protesters take part in a "million woman march" on Wednesday, April 30, in the Nigerian capital of Abuja. Obiageli Ezekwesili, former Nigerian education minister and vice president of the World Bank's Africa division, leads a march of women in Abuja on April 30. A woman cries out during a demonstration Tuesday, April 29, in Abuja with other mothers whose daughters have been kidnapped. A man weeps as he joins parents of the kidnapped girls during a meeting with the Borno state governor in Chibok on Tuesday, April 22. Mothers weep during a meeting with the Borno state governor on April 22 in Chibok. Four female students who were abducted by gunmen and reunited with their families walk in Chibok on Monday, April 21. Borno state governor Kashim Shettima, center, visits the Chibok school on April 21. Nigerians protest over kidnapped schoolgirls Nigerians protest over kidnapped schoolgirls Nigerians protest over kidnapped schoolgirls Nigerians protest over kidnapped schoolgirls Nigerians protest over kidnapped schoolgirls Nigerians protest over kidnapped schoolgirls Nigerians protest over kidnapped schoolgirls Nigerians protest over kidnapped schoolgirls Nigerians protest over kidnapped schoolgirls Nigerians protest over kidnapped schoolgirls HIDE CAPTION << < (http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140506110255-01-nigeria-0506-topics.jpg) 1 (http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140506110436-restricted-02-nigeria-0506-topics.jpg) 2 (http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140506110703-03-nigeria-0506-topics.jpg) 3 (http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140501065549-01-chibok-schoolgirls-restricted-topics.jpg) 4 (http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140501075910-02-chibok-schoolgirls-topics.jpg) 5 (http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140501075917-03-chibok-schoolgirls-topics.jpg) 6 (http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140506110833-04-nigeria-0506-topics.jpg) 7 (http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140501075924-04-chibok-schoolgirls-restricted-topics.jpg) 8 (http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140501075930-05-chibok-schoolgirls-topics.jpg) 9 (http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140501075936-06-chibok-schoolgirls-topics.jpg) 10 > >> (http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140506110255-01-nigeria-0506-horizontal-gallery.jpg) Nigerians protest over kidnapped schoolgirls (http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.e/img/3.0/mosaic/bttn_close.gif) (http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140502160608-nigeria-map-story-top.jpg) Map: Where the girls were kidnapped (http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.e/img/3.0/mosaic/bttn_close.gif) (http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140502160608-nigeria-map-story-top.jpg)Map: Where the girls were kidnapped Warabe residents told CNN that gunmen moved from door to door late Sunday, snatching the girls, who are between 12 and 15 years old.
The latest abductions come amid international outcry over the April 14 kidnapping of hundreds of girls by the organization Boko Haram (http://www.theinfostride.com/forum/'http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/17/world/africa/boko-haram-explainer/index.html'), which U.S. officials say is trained by al Qaeda affiliates.
On Tuesday, the United Nations human rights chief blasted Boko Haram and sent a stern warning to the group that under international law, slavery and intercourseual slavery are "crimes against humanity."
"The girls must be immediately returned, unharmed, to their families," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a news release.
Since Pillay visited Nigeria this year, the statement read, Boko Haram's actions have "grown increasingly monstrous."
'I abducted your girls'
A man claiming to be the group's leader, Abubakar Shekau, appeared Monday in a video announcing he would sell his victims. The video was first obtained by Agence-France Presse.
"I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah," he said, according to a CNN translation from the local Hausa language. "There is a market for selling humans. Allah says I should sell. He commands me to sell. I will sell women. I sell women."
Boko Haram's name means "Western education is sin." In the nearly hourlong, rambling video, Shekau repeatedly called for an end to Western education.
"Girls, you should go and get married," he said.
In her statement, Pillay condemned the "violent abduction" of the girls.
According to accounts, armed members of Boko Haram overpowered security guards at a school in Nigeria, yanked the girls out of bed and forced them into trucks. The convoy of trucks then disappeared into the dense forest bordering Cameroon.
Pillay has contacted President Jonathan and urged the government to take all necessary measures to ensure that the girls are freed, her statement said.
Pillay, along with three other African United Nations women leaders, sent a letter reminding the Nigerian government of its "legal responsibility to ensure that girls and boys have the fundamental right to education and to be protected from violence, persecution and intimidation," according to her statement.
Nigeria's finance minister said Monday that her country's government remains committed to finding the girls, but should have done a better job explaining the situation to the public.
"Have we communicated what is being done properly? The answer is no, that people did not have enough information," Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told CNN's Richard Quest.
It's difficult to release information about the search for the girls, she said, "because you are dealing with people that you don't know, and you don't know ... what they might do to these girls."
The kidnapping has sparked international outrage, much of it expressed on Twitter with the globally trending hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.
'I will sell them,' Boko Haram leader says (http://www.theinfostride.com/forum/'http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/05/world/africa/nigeria-abducted-girls/?hptbosread')
What's at stake in war against girls' kidnappers? (http://www.theinfostride.com/forum/'http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/05/opinion/bergen-boko-haram-stakes/?hptbosread')
6 reasons why the world should demand action (http://www.theinfostride.com/forum/'http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/06/world/africa/nigeria-abductions-why-it-matters/index.html')
Journalist Aminu Abubakar reported from Nigeria, and CNN's Ashley Fantz wrote this report in Atlanta.
Source: CNN.com