Advertisement

New Boko Haram video appears to show captured Nigerian schoolgirls

A video released by the Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram appears to show some of ...
Newstalk
Newstalk

12.58 14 Aug 2016


Share this article


New Boko Haram video appears t...

New Boko Haram video appears to show captured Nigerian schoolgirls

Newstalk
Newstalk

12.58 14 Aug 2016


Share this article


A video released by the Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram appears to show some of the schoolgirls that were captured more than two years ago.

Some 276 girls - mostly aged between 16 and 18 - were abducted from their school in Chibok in April 2014.

Around 50 managed to escape over the next few months.

Advertisement

The kidnapping led to international condemnation, with American first lady Michelle Obama among those joining a campaign with the hashtag: #BringBackOurGirls.

Earlier this year, the Nigerian army confirmed that one of the girls had been rescued.

BBC reports that the new - and as yet unverified - footage appears to show around 50 of the schoolgirls.

It features a militant carrying out a 'staged interview' with one of the girls.

The girl, who gives her name as Maida Yakubu, says: "What I can say is that our parents should take heart. Talk to the government so that we can be allowed to go home."

The footage also shows a separate clip of a number of bodies, with the militants claiming five of the girls were killed in government airstrikes.

If verified, the video would be the third released by Boko Haram showing the captured schoolgirls.

The new video was released under the Boko Haram name - rather than that of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which is being used by a rival faction.

The militant group has said that the girls will not be released until the government releases Boko Haram prisoners.

There have been fears that some of the girls have been sexually abused or forced into marriage. One of the girls in the new video is seen holding a baby.

Boko Haram, which was founded in 2002, pledged allegiance to Islamic State in March 2015.


Share this article


Read more about

News

Most Popular