LAGOS: US First Lady Michelle Obama on Saturday denounced as an “unconscionable act” the kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls by militants as a mobilized international community helped Nigeria search for them.

For the first time standing in for President Barack Obama on his weekly Saturday morning address, Michelle said she and her husband were “outraged and heartbroken” over the mass abduction of the girls from their school dormitory in a remote corner of north Nigeria last month.

Their sentiments were shared by “millions of people across the globe,” she said.

This violence “was not an isolated incident ... it’s a story we see every day as girls around the world risk their lives to pursue their ambitions,” Michelle said.

“This unconscionable act was committed by a terrorist group determined to keep these girls from getting an education — grown men attempting to snuff out the aspirations of young girls.”

On April 14, 276 schoolgirls were abducted in the northeastern Nigerian town of Chibook, with eight more seized from Warabe on May 5. Three weeks later 223 girls are still missing.

The militant group Boko Haram claimed responsibility, and threatened to “sell” the girls into slavery.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Army announced on Saturday it has posted two divisions to hunt for the kidnapped schoolgirls.

The soldiers are stationed in the border region close to Chad, Cameroon and Niger to work with other security agencies, said Gen. Chris Olukolade, spokesman for the Defense Headquarters.

The abductions have sparked offers of help from the United States, Britain, France and China.

Seven military officials from the US Africa regional command AFRICOM along with a State Department expert arrived in Nigeria on Friday, and three FBI personnel and four others from State and the USAID aid agency were due in the country on Saturday.

“They’ll be providing technical and investigatory assistance, helping with hostage negotiations, advising on military planning and operations and assisting with intelligence and information,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

Among the help on offer would be intelligence-sharing as the teams work to track down the girls, who range in age from 16 to 18.

Britain said Wednesday it would send a small team to Nigeria to concentrate on planning, coordination and advice to local authorities rather than operations on the ground to look for the girls.

France also has offered to send a specialized team while China promised to supply “any useful information acquired by its satellites and intelligence services” to Nigeria.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, whose long silence after the abductions was sharply criticized, said Friday that a search team was already at work in Sambisa forest, near Chibok, with remote sensors trying to locate the kidnappers and their victims.

The United States and officials in Chibok voiced concern that the girls might have been moved to neighboring Chad and Cameroon to be sold.

But Jonathan said Friday that he believes the girls were still in Nigeria, possibly in the Sambisa forest.

The abductions have also led to a growing social media campaign with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls joined by public figures and celebrities.

The Financial Times on Saturday published an open letter signed by 50 leading personalities, including former world leaders as well as the singer Bono, Bill and Melinda Gates and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus who have called on the international community to do everything to ensure the return of the pupils.

“We urge all local, national and regional governments, with the full support of the international community, to dedicate their expertise and resources ...to #BringBackOurGirls,” it read.

Other signatories of the letter were the former presidents of Brazil, Mexico, Mozambique, Mauritius, Tanzania, Botswana, Liberia, Cape Verde, and Ireland along with CNN founder Ted Turner, Virgin founder Richard Brandson, Unilever CEO Paul Polman and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu.