British plane to search for abducted Nigerian girls

British Prime Minister David Cameron Wednesday said that Britain has offered Nigeria a surveillance aircraft and a military team to help search more than 200 abducted schoolgirls in the country.

Britain has offered Nigeria "further assistance in terms of surveillance aircraft and a military team to embed with the Nigerian army in its HQ (headquarters), as well as a team to work with US experts to analyse information on the girls' location," Xinhua quoted Cameron as saying while addressing the British Parliament.

He said Britain has worked with Nigeria on counter-terrorism and is "willing to do more", particularly if it can ensure that "proper processes are in place to deal with human rights issues".

"We should help across a broad range of areas, not just counter-terrorism, surveillance and helping them to find these people," he added.

Britain sent a team of experts to Nigeria last week to advise and support the country in its response to the abduction of the girls.

More than 200 girls from Chibok community in northeastern Nigeria's Borno state were abducted in April. Militant group Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the abduction and threatened to sell the girls.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is grappling with security challenges arising from the insurgency of Boko Haram, a sect which seeks to enshrine the Islamic Sharia law in the constitution.