Abducted Nigerian girl scared to go back to school

BAUCHI, Nigeria (AP) — One of the teenagers who escaped from Islamic extremists who abducted more than 300 schoolgirls says the kidnapping was “too terrifying for words,” and she is now scared to go back to school.

Sarah Lawan, a 19-year-old science student, spoke out Sunday as Nigerians prayed for the safety of the 276 students still held captive. Their prayers were joined by Pope Francis.

Using the trending #BringBackOurGirls, the Roman Catholic leader tweeted: “Let us all join in prayer for the immediate release of the schoolgirls kidnapped in Nigeria.”

Lawan told The Associated Press that more of the girls could have escaped but that they were frightened by their captors’ threats to shoot them.

She spoke in the local Hausa language in a phone interview from Chibok, her home and the site of the mass abduction in northeast Nigeria…