Abubakar Shekau, factional leader of Islamist insurgency group, Jama’atu Ahlus-Sunnah lil-Da’awati wal Jihad, commonly known as Boko Haram, in a just-released video stated that his group married off more than 40 Chibok schoolgirls the sect abducted two years ago in Borno State.
In the video, which runs 10 minutes and 22 seconds, released on Mr. Shekau’s behalf by one of his lieutenants dressed in a green camouflage, wielding a gun and surrounded by some of the Chibok girls said, Boko Haram dared the Nigerian military to capture the Chibok girls alive through military warfare.
The sect also said that air strikes by Nigerian military had killed several of the Chibok girls and left many with broken bodies and others receiving medical attention under the sect’s supervision.
The video also featured a recorded conversation between Shekau’s foot soldier and one of the abducted girls, Maida Yakubu. In it, the abducted girl urges the Nigerian government to free Boko Haram commanders who are in government detention, stating that the release of these commanders would be the only basis to regain their own freedom.
Below is a translation of Boko Haram latest video by SaharaReporters:
“This message is for the parents of Chibok girls and Federal Government of Nigeria from the leadership of Jama’atu Ahlus -Sunnah li-Da’awatiwal-Jihad under the leadership of Abubakar Shekau.
“Like I said this message is for the parents of the Chibok girls and the Federal Government of Nigeria, please listen attentively to the message.
“We are thanking Allah for his power, and it is in the exercise of his supreme power that we have been holding these girls for two years now. Praise be to Allah, we are still holding them. First, the message is to their parents to know the state of their children as you can see in this video.
“The parents should know that their children are still with us, some of them. And they should press on Federal Government to urgently set free our brothers in their captivity. Those they are holding in Maiduguri, Abuja and Lagos and all parts of Nigeria; they are holding our brethren. This is what we want the parents to know.
“The second issue is, everybodyknow that the girls with us are many and the government and their might have no power to know where the girls are. They have been lying in the media that they will rescue the girls and now it's two years and nothing has happened and the girls are still with us. The Federal Government and their might don't know where [the girls] are. The government is just lying and will do nothing. This is what people should know.
“The next issue is, we captured these girls over two years ago and up to this moment, there are some developments we want the parents to know and the world to know. To the power of almighty Allah about 40 of [the Chibok girls] have been married off. Some have been killed through air strikes by the Nigerian military.
“We will show you clips of how some were killed by the military through air strikes. We will also show you clips of some of them who had broken bodies and injuries following the air strikes and air bombing. Like I said, these are the remaining girls, we have nothing against them. All that we want is, you should free our brothers.
“If you don't set our brothers free, you should know from this moment that you will never get these girls back by the power of almighty Allah. This is the summary of our message to the Federal Government and the parents of Chibok girls.
“The core message is to the parents to prevail on the Federal Government of Nigeria, if they don't set our brothers free, we will not let these girls go. We hope you got the message and in thisvideo you will see how [military jets] bombed and killed your girls. Some had broken bodies and are receiving medical attention.
“We want you to know again, we have nothing to get from these girls, but if you don't set our brothers free, we will never set them free by the power of almighty Allah. You will see how jets killed your own children.
“The next message is to our incarcerated brothers, especially those in Lagos [and] Maiduguri. They should continue to worship Allah and remain prayerful—those in Lagos, Maiduguri and all parts of Nigeria. We will soon get to them by the power of Allah.
“We will now ask one of the Chibok girls to convey a message to her parents and Federal Government to urgently release our brothers.”
Below is the text of the conversation:
“What is your name?”
“Maida.”
“Tell them your full name?”
“Maida Yakubu.”
“You are originally from where?”
“I am from Chibok.”
“Where did we kidnap you?”
“From school.”
“What's the name of the school?”
“GSS.”
“GSS where?”
“Chibok.”
“How many years have you been here?”
“I have been here for two years.”
“What message do you have to your parents and Federal Government of Nigeria?”
“What I will say is, our parents should be patient, they should tellgovernment to set free their brothers so that they will also set us free.”
(Here, the Hausa conversation ended and Ms. Yakubu she started talking in a local Chibok dialect. When she was finished, Abubakar Shekau’s aide made final remarks, surrounded by the Chibok girls).
“Finally, I will close with this. There are many people coming to us with lies: that they are coming to us as emissaries of the Nigerian government to securerelease of the girls. Because of this, the government and the world should know: There is nobody we sent to mediate over this matter.
“There are things that occurred in the past and you know it; we don't deal with anyone in this matter except for some journalists. You should know this: we did not send anyone except the journalists we are interacting with. This is what we know.
“If you think you have might to rescue the girls, try it, especially you [President Muhammadu] Buhari and your workers since your soldiers have been lying to you. Let them try and see whether they will get the girls alive. Let them try and see. Free our brothers and we will free your girls.”