Islamist militant group Boko Haram purportedly released a new video on Monday, showing more than 100 girls who are believed to be among those they kidnapped nearly a month ago. All of them have allegedly converted to Islam. This latest development comes a week after the group released a video stating that the abducted girls will be sold on the market.
“Praise be to Allah, the lord of the world,” the girls in the video can be heard chanting, while wearing full-length black and gray abayas and praying in an unidentified rural location. Three of the girls were interviewed, and two of them said that they were Christians but have converted to Islam. The other girl said she is a Muslim. The girls, who appeared to be calm, said they were not harmed by their abductors.
This new Boko Haram video, obtained by the French news agency Agence France-Presse, also shows Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the terrorist group, saying that all the girls will be released in exchanged for all the militant prisoners in Nigeria. Shekau said in the 17-minute video that the girls shown are around 130.
Boko Haram took nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls in last April 14, while they were taking their final exams in an all-girls secondary school in Chibok. Since then, continuous protests were held not only in Nigeria but also in major cities around the world. The hashtag #BringBackOurGirls is used in social sites such as Facebook and Twitter, with celebrities joining the call to free the girls.
Among the respected world personalities who publicly urge the release of the kidnapped girls include British Prime Minister David Cameron, US First Lady Michelle Obama, and recently Pope Francis. While Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan is facing criticisms, he said on Sunday that military and intelligence assistance from different countries have made him optimistic that the crisis will be over soon.
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