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Boko Haram releases video appearing to show Chibok schoolgirls Boko Haram releases video appearing to show Chibok schoolgirls
(about 2 hours later)
A video that apparently shows a group of girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram militants from a school in Chibok in northern Nigeria more than two years ago has been released. Fifty girls believed to be among the Nigerian schoolchildren kidnapped at gunpoint two years ago have appeared in a video released by Boko Haram.
About 50 girls in Islamic dress are pictured in the video. A masked man, apparently a Boko Haram fighter in camouflage fatigues and holding a gun, stands in front of the group. He demands the release of Boko Haram prisoners in exchange for the girls. In the video, a masked man holding a gun tells the government that the militant group, which has murdered, raped and kidnapped thousands of people in north-east Nigeria, would only release the Chibok girls in return for the release of imprisoned Boko Haram fighters.
The girls, whose faces are clearly visible, are thought to be among 276 who were kidnapped in April 2014. Some escaped, but more than 200 are still being held captive. Of the 276 girls taken from their dormitories in April 2014, 217 are still missing.
The masked militant claims that five girls were recently killed in a government airstrike. A clip showing bodies lying on the ground is included in the video. One of the girls, who identified herself as Maida Yakubu, spoke in the video of their suffering, but told their families to “take heart”.
One of the girls shown in the video is impelled by the militant to urge the Nigerian government to free Boko Haram prisoners. “To our parents – please be patient,” Yakubu said. “There is no kind of suffering we haven’t seen. Our sisters are injured, some of them have wounds on their heads and bodies. Tell the government to give them [Boko Haram] their people, so we can come home to you.
Giving her name as Maida Yakubu from Chibok, she tells parents to “take heart”, and says: “Talk to the government so that we can be allowed to go home.” “We are all children. We don’t know what to do. The suffering is too much. Please try. We have been patient. The only thing that can be done is to give them their people so we can go home.”
Another girl in the group is filmed holding a baby. It is feared that many of the schoolgirls have been forced into marriage by their captors. As she spoke, the women sitting and standing behind her cried silently, wiping their faces on their black and grey abayas. One held a child in her arms. Black cloth had been draped behind them, making it impossible to know where the video was filmed.
If verified, the video would be the third released by Boko Haram, an Islamic extremist organisation that has waged a campaign of terror in northern Nigeria. The first, released a month after the abductions, also included a demand for the release of jailed militants in exchange for the girls. The fighter in the video, who has not been identified, also had a message for the Chibok parents.
“I swear to almighty Allah, you will not see them again until you release our brothers that you have captured,” Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, said in that video. “They should know that their children are still in our hands,” he said, his face wrapped in camouflage cloth. Forty of the Chibok girls had been married, the fighter added, letting go of his gun only to wag his finger at the camera and hold a microphone under Yakubu’s chin.
Amid an international outcry over the kidnappings, the Nigerian government indicated it was willing to negotiate with Boko Haram. In April this year, a second video purporting to show about 15 of the girls was shown to parents, after being filmed four months earlier. He complained of government airstrikes against Boko Haram camps. When Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, took power in May 2015, he vowed to crush Boko Haram within a year. While his forces have taken back large amounts of territory from the group, it has remained active, killing hundreds of people in suicide bombings.
Footage was attached to the video purporting to show some of the schoolgirls killed in government attacks. However, analysts said the girls’ injuries did not seem consistent with airstrikes, but were more similar to machete wounds, suggesting that the footage could have been staged.
The fighter’s message to Buhari was that if his troops tried to rescue the girls, Boko Haram would kill them. He said messages were relayed only through journalists and nobody was authorised to negotiate for Boko Haram.
“Don’t waste time – release our members in custody and we will release the girls,” he said.
He was reiterating a demand made in the first video of the girls, released a month after their capture. “I abducted your girls and I will sell them in the market,” Boko Haram’s then undisputed leader, Abubakar Shekau, said in the video.
Only one other video showing 15 girls, some of them confirmed as Chibok victims by their relatives, has emerged since. A month after the video was released in April, one of the girls escaped. Amina Nkeki was flown directly to the Nigerian capital, Abuja, to meet Buhari and be paraded in a press conference that commentators described as a “desperate bid to claim credit” for her release.
The latest video is believed to have been ordered by Shekau and comes as a battle rages for control of Boko Haram. Ten days ago, Islamic State, to which Boko Haram pledged allegiance last year, announced that its west African affiliate had a new leader. Apparently unhappy with Shekau’s attacks on mosques and Muslim markets, Isis appointed Abu Musab al-Barwani in his place.
Shekau released a video in which he appeared to admit defeat, saying in Hausa: “For me, the end has come.”
Related: Family demand news of Nigerian schoolgirl who escaped Boko HaramRelated: Family demand news of Nigerian schoolgirl who escaped Boko Haram
At the time, Lai Mohammed, Nigeria’s information minister, declined to give details of talks with Boko Haram. But he confirmed negotiations were taking place. “There are ongoing talks. We cannot ignore leads, but of course many of these investigations cannot be disclosed openly because it could also endanger the negotiations,” he told CNN. However, the latest video casts doubt on Shekau’s newfound meekness.
The kidnapping of the girls triggered a global campaign, including the use of the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls. Michelle Obama and other public figures and celebrities backed the campaign on social media. Ryan Cummings, a security analyst, said: “It [the video] refers to Boko Haram by their traditional name.” This name change could suggest that the girls are still being held by Shekau’s faction.
Amid fears that the mostly Christian girls had been forced into sex slavery and compelled to convert to Islam, countries including the UK, US, Canada, France, Israel and China offered assistance to the Nigerian government. Nigeria’s minister of information, Lai Mohammed, said the government was in contact with those behind the video and working to secure the girls’ release.
In the past 15 months, the Nigerian army has retaken towns and villages in the north-east of the country that were controlled by Boko Haram, and has freed hundreds of women and children held captive. However, many face rejection or are stigmatised when they are returned to their families or are settled in refugee camps. “We are on top of the situation,” he said. “But we are being extremely careful, because the situation has been compounded by the split in the leadership of Boko Haram. We are also being guided by the need to ensure the safety of the girls.
The kidnapping of the Chibok girls attracted global attention, but thousands more children have also been abducted by Boko Haram since 2014. “Since this is not the first time we have been contacted over the issue, we want to be doubly sure that those we are in touch with are who they claim to be.”
A faction of the militant group, which is fighting to create an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, recently pledged loyalty to Isis. The kidnapping of the girls led to a global campaign, with public figures including the US first lady, Michelle Obama, calling for their release with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.
The Chibok girls are among the thousands of adults and children that Boko Haram has abducted during its seven-year insurgency.
Yakubu’s mother, Esther, wrote a letter to her daughter in April in which she described the effect that the abduction had had on her life. It was turned into a video.
“From birth, I have been planning for you – your life, your education, your health. Before you were kidnapped,” Esther Yakubu said, tears running down her face. “Up till now, I have not seen or heard anything from you. But I believe that one day, I will fulfil that, my promise to you, and I will see you again, and my happiness, my joy, my life will be complete with you.”
Harriet Sherwood contributed to this report