US First Lady Michelle Obama has said she was outraged over the mass kidnapping of schoolgirls in Nigeria.
Obama said that the abductions were part of a wider pattern of threats and intimidation facing girls around the world who pursue an education.
Obama added that she and her husband Barack Obama were 'outraged and heartbroken' over the abduction of more than 200 girls from their school in April, the BBC reports.
The comments from Michelle came while speaking instead of her husband in the weekly presidential address.
The Islamist militant group Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the abductions.
Obama, who was speaking ahead of Mother's Day in the US on Sunday, said the girls reminded her and her husband of their own daughters, the report said.
She added that the incident in Nigeria was not an isolated one, but it is a story that is seen every day as girls around the world risk their lives to pursue their ambitions.
She cited the Pakistani schoolgirl and campaigner Malala Yousafzai, who was shot and wounded by the Taliban for speaking out for girls' education, the report added.