( CNN ) One year after it was perpetrated , the kidnapping of nearly 300 schoolgirls by a jihadist group in Nigeria remains a crime almost too horrifying to comprehend : Hundreds of teenaged girls , just finishing school , destined perhaps for significant achievement -- kidnapped , never to be seen again . `` This crime has rightly caused outrage both in Nigeria and across the world , '' the country 's President-elect , Muhammadu Buhari , said Tuesday in marking the anniversary . `` Today is a time to reflect on the pain and suffering of the victims , their friends and families . Our thoughts and prayers , and that of the whole Nigerian nation , are with you today . '' The girls were abducted on the night of April 14-15 , 2014 , in the town of Chibok , in northeastern Nigeria , about a two-hour drive from the border with Cameroon . The Government Girls Secondary School had been closed for a month because of the danger posed by Boko Haram militants , who are opposed to Western education , particularly for girls . But students from several schools had been called in to take a final exam in physics . The militants stormed the school , arriving in a convoy of trucks and buses and engaging in a gun battle with school security guards . Then they forced the girls from their dormitories , loaded them into trucks and drove them into the forest . Most have never been seen since , except in a photograph in which they sat on the ground in a semi-circle , clad in Islamic dress . They were between 16 and 18 years old . Police said the militants kidnapped 276 girls in all . About 50 managed to escape soon after they were abducted . Those who did not , it is feared , may have been raped , brutalized , enslaved and forced to convert to Islam . Their parents were stricken with grief . The world was appalled . On Twitter , a hashtag began trending and spread around the world : # BringBackOurGirls . On Tuesday , Malala Yousafzai , the 17-year-old Pakistani girl who was shot in the face for speaking out in favor of girls ' education , sent a message to the kidnapped girls . `` I am one of the millions of people around the world who keep you and your families foremost in our thoughts and prayers , '' she wrote . `` We can not imagine the full extent of the horrors you have endured . But please know this : We will never forget you . '' One year later , a few things have changed . Each of the missing girls has had a birthday in captivity . Each is now a year older . Nigeria 's current president , Goodluck Jonathan , was defeated in his campaign for re-election , in part , it is thought , because he failed to effectively combat Boko Haram . Buhari , the incoming president , has pledged an aggressive effort to wipe out the group . But much remains unchanged , as well . Boko Haram still controls swathes of northeastern Nigeria . According to UNICEF , 800,000 children have been forced to flee their homes because of the conflict between the Nigerian military , civilian self-defense groups , and Boko Haram . Amnesty International says women and children continue to be abducted . And it says Boko Haram continues to kill in large numbers . Beyond that , more than 200 schoolgirls who had gathered one year ago to take their science exam are still missing . Their families are still bereft . And Tuesday on Twitter , a hashtag was still trending : # BringBackOurGirls .
Nigeria 's President-elect sends nation 's prayers to families of girls . The president said he was praying for the safety and well-being of all Nigerians in his country.