Nigeria school kidnapping: 250 children still held two weeks on

It has been an agonizing wait for news for parents of schoolchildren kidnapped by gunmen two weeks ago. And it continues.

Many feel that the authorities are not handling their children's rescue as an emergency.

More than 250 children remain captive after gunmen stormed a Catholic boarding school early morning on Nov. 21 and carted away more than 300 students and staff.

According to school authorities, 50 children managed to escape.

The kidnapping is one of the worst mass raids since the 2014 abduction of 276 schoolgirls by Boko Haram in Chibok.

Security forces say efforts are underway to rescue the abductees. But for the parents, these assurances mean little.

President Bola Tinubu has declared a security emergency and ordered the recruitment of extra security personnel.

Mass abductions of schoolchildren have become common in the West African nation, which is facing critical threats from several armed groups, including groups that specialize in kidnappings for ransom.

Since 2014, there have been at least a dozen mass abductions of school students, and at least 1,799 students have been kidnapped since then, according to a tally by AP.

Some of them are never rescued.