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| This Monday May 12, 2014 file image taken from video by Nigeria's Boko Haram terrorist network, shows the alleged missing girls abducted from the northeastern town of Chibok. The video posted Sunday Aug.14, 2016 on Twitter shows a veiled girl identified as one of the 276 students abducted from a remote school in northeast Nigeria in April 2014, saying some classmates died in aerial bombardments and 40 have been "married" to Islamic extremist fighters . (AP Photo) |
Some of the abducted
Chibok schoolgirls have been killed in Nigerian military air strikes, according
to a new video appearing to come from Boko Haram Islamic extremists, which
shows one of the alleged victims pleading for authorities to release detained
militants in exchange for the girls' freedom.
Associated
Press report continues:
The
video posted Sunday on Twitter shows a girl, covered in a hijab with just her
face showing, identified as one of the 276 students abducted from a remote
school in northeastern Nigeria in April 2014.
In
the video, she claims that some of her kidnapped classmates died in aerial
bombardments by the Nigerian Air Force. She also said that 40 have been
"married" to Islamic extremist fighters.
The
video shows a fighter warning in the Hausa language that if President Muhammadu
Buhari's government battles Boko Haram with firepower, the girls won't be seen
again.
"Presently,
some of the girls are crippled, some are terribly sick and some of them, as I
had said, died during bombardment by the Nigerian military," the fighter
says, appearing before a group of more than 40 young women in hijabs, some
holding babies.
"If
our members in detention are not freed, let the government and parents of the
Chibok girls know that they will never find these girls again," he said.
The
video, cited by the SITE Intelligence Group, was posted by Ahmad Salkida, a
Nigerian journalist known to have good contacts in Boko Haram. Salkida says he
was given the video by the Boko Haram wing led by Abubakar Shekau, who is in a
leadership battle with a lieutenant named by the Islamic State group as the new
leader of what it calls its West Africa Province.
Dozens
of the schoolgirls kidnapped from Chibok escaped on their own within two days
of the abduction. One girl escaped this year, saying she had been led to
freedom by her Boko Haram "husband." Some 218 remain missing in the
mass kidnapping that shocked the world and even brought U.S. First Lady Michelle
Obama to participate in the #Bring Back Our Girls social media campaign,
promising her husband would do all in his power to help liberate them.
In
the video, the fighter says the Nigerian government has repeatedly lied to its
citizens with promises to quickly free those kidnapped from Chibok Government
Girls School, who now are all over 18 years old.
The
government came under increased pressure from parents and the Bring Back Our
Girls campaigners after the May escape of one young woman, a proof of life that
they said should encourage the military and government to redouble efforts to
rescue the girls. The escapee said some of the girls had died but scores remain
in captivity under heavy guard.
Sunday's
video appears another proof of life, though it was not immediately possible to
reach any of the parents or Chibok leaders to verify the identity of those
filmed.
The
young woman in the video, probably speaking under duress, begs for help to free
them.
"Oh
you, my people and our parents, you just have to please come to our rescue: We
are suffering here, the aircraft has come to bombard us and killed many of us.
Some are wounded. Every day we are in pains and suffering, so are our babies.
Some of our husbands that we married also are injured, some dead. No one cares
for us.
"Please
go and beg the government of Nigeria to release the members of our abductors so
that they too can free us to let us come home. We are really suffering, there
is no food to eat, no good water to drink here."
The
video goes on to show bodies from an alleged air raid, including that of a girl
whose eyes flicker open briefly.
Nigeria's
Air Force has reported near-daily bombardments of Boko Haram camps and the
military of increased ground assaults in which they have freed thousands of
captives, though none of the Chibok girls.
Boko
Haram has been forced out of most towns in the past year and has turned to
assaulting remote villages and using suicide bombers to attack targets such as
mosques and marketplaces.
More
than 20,000 people have been killed in the 7-year-old Islamic uprising that has
spread from Nigeria to neighboring countries and driven 2.2 million people from
their homes.
Aid workers say there is a catastrophic humanitarian crisis in newly liberated but still dangerous areas where half a million people are starving and babies dying daily. There has also been a resurgence of polio in areas that had been under Boko Haram's control, as a result of the extremists' opposition to vaccinations.
SEE FULL TRANSCRIPT OF THE
VIDEO IS PROVIDED BELOW:
“This
is a message from the Jama.atu ahlis sunnah lidda awati wal jihad under the
leadership of Abu Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Abubakar As- Shekau.
We
are sending a special message to the parents of the Chibok Girls and the
Nigerian Government.
Masked armed man standing
in front of girls ( Speaking).
We
thank God for giving us the opportunity to send this message to the parents of
these girls (Pointing at the girls sitting behind him).
It
pleased God to let us have these girls in our captivity for over two years now.
Our first message is to the parents of the girls to let them know that their
daughters are still with us, some of them.
I
also want to tell them to ask the Nigerian government to release our brethren
especially those in Maiduguri, Lagos and Abuja and other places across Nigeria.
They should be released immediately.
You
all knew that we had the girls, but God never allowed you to know their
location and you will never know by God’s grace. You keep lying in your media
that you will rescue them, they have been with us for over two years, yet you
can’t even know where they are. You have just been lying about these girls,
people should know that.
Also,
for the over two years that we have been with these girls, about forty of them
are married, some are dead as a result of airstrike by infidels. We will show
you a video of how your own aircraft dropped a bomb that killed some of these
girls. Some of the girls have suffered fractures and other forms of injuries as
a result of the air strikes.
As
you can see, these are the girls, all we want is for you to release our
brethren otherwise you will never get these girls God willing. This in short is
our message to the Federal Government and the parents of the Chibok Girls.
As
long as the government does not release our people, we will also never release
these girls, that is our message.
I
specially inform our people in captivity in Lagos that they should be patient
and continue with their prayers, God will take us to where no one expects and
we will rescue them. All those in Lagos, Maiduguri and other southern parts of
the country. Keep praying, very soon, we will rescue you.
One of the girls is called
to speak to her parents and the Federal Government in a Q & A format”
What
is your name?
My
name is Maida Yakubu
Where
are you from?
I
am from Chibok town
Where
were you picked from?
School
What
is the name of the School?
GSS
Chibok
For
how long have you been here?
About
two years
What
message do you have for your parents and the Federal Government of Nigeria?
All
I can say is that our (Begins speaking in native language) parents should be
patient, beg the government to release their people, so that we can also be
released. (Switched to native language).
Most
of the girls standing and sitting behind Miss Yakubu were seen fighting tears
and using their hijab to hide their emotions.
Armed man takes over.
Let
me conclude this message by saying that many people have been coming to us
lying that they were sent by the Nigerian government to get the girls released.
Let
the government and the whole world know that we have not sent anyone to
negotiate with the government on our behalf over these girls.
We
have dealt with you in the past before and you know our recommended
negotiators.
If
you need to, you should talk to them. We don’t use our own people to negotiate
with you, we use your own people such as journalists to talk with you. We have
not sent any other persons. You know that we prefer to use journalist known to
you.
Let
me say again, release our people and we release your girls, otherwise, they
will never be released. If you think you have the power to come and rescue
them, go ahead and try.
President
Buhari your Army has been lying to you that they have finished us, let them try
and see if they can rescue these girls alive.
Video ends with a flying jet and then some
female bodies lying on the ground.
Transcript source: PREMIUM TIMES
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