The heavily armed militants stormed the girls dormitory in the middle of the night , herding more than 200 students on to vehicles and burning down nearby buildings as they made their escape . That was a week ago Monday . Of the 230 students abducted from the Government Girls Secondary School in the Nigerian town of Chibok , about 190 are still missing , one official said . The number of girls taken from the school has been revised by officials several times , and on Monday , CNN spoke with Principal Asabe Kwambura , who said a new figure of at least 230 was determined after reviewing records and taking reports from parents . Isa Umar Gusau , a spokesman for the Borno provincial governor 's office , put the number at 234 -- 129 science students and 105 art students . He said in a written statement that the confusion resulted because the art students did n't leave campus as expected on the day of the attack . The head of the dormitory initially did n't count them among the missing . No one knows where the missing girls are . And even more surprising , no one 's particularly shocked . `` All the community are sympathizing with the parents , '' Kwambura told CNN earlier . But , she said , `` the people in the villages are not surprised . '' Such is life in the lawless Borno province . Tucked away near the border with Cameroon , with phone services cut off and travel strongly discouraged , this poor corner of Nigeria is no stranger to such brazen , violent acts . For 11 months , the provinces of Borno , Yobe and Adamawa have been under a state of emergency due to relentless assaults blamed on Boko Haram . The Islamist militant group has bombed churches and mosques ; kidnapped women and children ; and assassinated politicians and religious leaders . Boko Haram -- whose name means `` Western education is sin '' in the local Hausa language -- says it wants to impose a stricter enforcement of Sharia law across Africa 's most populous nation . The group has gone about its misguided mission with such depressing regularity that residents have become somewhat numb . Where 's the president ? Nigerians marvel that U.S. President Barack Obama traveled to Massachusetts after the Boston Marathon bombings that killed three people last year . Boko Haram-related violence killed 1,500 in the first three months of this year alone . And yet , Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has not visited the region recently . Part of it may have to do with geographic divisions . Jonathan is from the predominantly Christian south . That 's not just geographically distant but also culturally different from the Muslim-dominated , violence-wracked north . To put things in perspective , none of Jonathan 's major political rivals from the north attended his inauguration in 2011 . And widespread violence broke out in the north when his presidential win was announced , with some residents claiming the election was rigged . It 's the opposite of what happened with Jonathan 's predecessor . The previous president , Umaru Yar'Adua , was from the north . During his tenure , violence ravaged the country 's oil-rich , southern Niger Delta , with militant groups saying they wanted a fairer distribution of the region 's oil wealth . Where 's the military ? The Nigerian military has been engaged in a brutal , ever-escalating fight with Boko Haram . Rights group accuse both sides of ruthlessness -- Boko Haram of indiscriminate attacks , and the military of extrajudicial killings . But when it comes to the abductions of girls -- and there have been many -- the military has had a difficult time . Last week , the defense ministry erroneously reported that all but eight of the girls from the latest kidnapping were free . It retracted a day later . Lawan Zanna , the father of one of the students , said the government turned from using `` blatant propaganda '' to making a `` blatant lie . '' Part of the reason the military is loath to respond mightily may be because the girls who are kidnapped are raped , forced into servitude -- but rarely killed . In February , 29 college students in the northern Yobe province were killed after an attack authorities blamed on Boko Haram . All of them were males . The women were spared . In other instances , kidnapped girls were later rescued while working on farms . Many were pregnant or had babies -- the result of rape . The spate of kidnappings began in May 2013 when Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau announced in a video that this was part of its latest bloody campaign . The kidnappings , he said , were retaliation for Nigerian security forces nabbing the wives and children of group members . Those kidnapped , he said , would begin a new life as a `` servant . '' But the latest incident has ratcheted up the pressure on the military . The military said `` ongoing , frantic efforts '' of security forces , vigilante groups and hunters are attempting to find and free the students . But a week later , the fate of 190 girls remain unknown .
Officials revise total number of girls kidnapped to 1,500 . This poor corner of U.S. is no stranger to such brazen , violent acts . Umaru Yar'Adua -related violence killed at least 230 in a week later . The latest incident has ratcheted up pressure on the military .