DHAKA: More than 200 schoolgirls on Wednesday began their second month as Boko Haram hostages, with Nigeria’s government indicating it was willing to talk to the militants to secure their release.

Lawmakers in Abuja were also set to debate a request from president Goodluck Jonathan for a six-month extension to a state of emergency first imposed in three northeast states worst affected by insurgent violence exactly a year ago.

Boko Haram, which has waged an increasingly deadly campaign of bombings and attacks in the last five years, kidnapped 276 girls from the remote town of Chibok in Borno state on April 14.

Street protests, including in a torrential downpour in Nigeria’s financial capital, Lagos, marked the one-month anniversary of the girls’ abduction, calling for the 223 still being held to be returned to their families, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1737 HRS, MAY 14, 2014