A US senator, Barbara Mikulski, has expressed her concerns about the effectiveness of the Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, in dealing with the Boko Haram terrorist group that is unleashing mayhem on the northern part of the country.

Speaking about the over 200 girls kidnapped April 14 from a Borno school by the terrorist group, the Democratic senator told CNN in an interview: “The Nigerian government, led by its president, has been tepid on its response (to the kidnap of the school girls) at best.”

While acknowledging that the US government could send its special forces to rescue the schoolgirls, Mikulski said that regional governments in Africa must take the lead in rescue efforts.

“It has to start with the Nigerian government, using its resources, African regional coalition, and then call upon the expertise of nations that have special forces, special intelligence data, satellites, etc,” Mikulski said.

Speaking alongside Mikulski in the CNN interview, another US senator, Susan Collins, also echoed concerns about the Nigerian government’s willingness to act to free the abducted schoolgirls.

“I don’t think the Nigerian president has, obviously, the capabilities that we have, so I would hope that he would encourage the United States to help him rescue these young citizens of his country, these girls who are being exploited, kidnapped, taken from their homes. This is horrendous and it requires a global outrage in response to what is happening,” said Collins.

•Photo shows Senator Barbara Mikulski.