Boko Haram has released a video demanding the release of all militants held by the government
in exchange for the return of about 220 still-missing Nigerian girls,
many of whom appear in the video praying and wearing full-length hijabs,
according to Agence-France Presse.
AFP, which obtained the video, reports that it features the Islamist militant leader Abubakar Shekau speaking
for about 17 minutes before showing footage of some of the missing
girls praying in an unknown location. In the video, Shekau claims that
those abducted have converted to Islam.
The BBC adds
that three girls speak during the video. Two say they were Christians
who have converted to Islam, and one simply described herself as a
Muslim. The three appear calm and one said they have not been harmed by
the violent abductors.
Screengrab from a video of Boko Haram obtained by @AFP shows the missing Nigerian schoolgirls pic.twitter.com/eh1AicuGDA
— Steven Jambot (@StevenJambot) May 12, 2014
Boko Haram first claimed responsibility for kidnapping nearly 300 Chibok schoolgirls in mid-April in a video made public about one week ago.
Nigerians
and members of the international community sympathetic to their plight
are frustrated by the government's lack of action, a critique bolstered
by a recent Amnesty International report claiming military officials had advance warning of the attack that led to the kidnapping, but failed to act to protect the schoolgirls. And the government has been refusing many offers by the U.S. and other countries to help search for the missing.
Still, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said on Sunday that he will accept help from Israel and that he is "very
optimistic that with the entire international community deploying its
considerable military and intelligence-gathering skills and assets in
support of Nigeria's efforts … success will soon be achieved."
This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/05/boko-haram-claims-video-shows-kidnapped-girls/362061/
Source: Yahoo
No comments:
Post a Comment