BBC Africa is reporting Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram has released a video showing some of the 276 school girls they abducted from the northern town of Chibok in 2014. The article states:
“Some 50 girls are shown with a gunman who demands the release of fighters in return for the girls, and says some girls died in air strikes.
The government says it is in touch with the militants behind the video…
The group is said to be holding more than 200 of the 276 final-year girls it seized from a school in April 2014.
Non-Muslims were forcibly converted to Islam, and it is feared that many of the schoolgirls have been sexually abused and forced into “marriage” by their captors.
Parents of the missing girls have described their anguish at seeing their daughters in captivity.”
The video shows the captors saying some of the girls have life-threatening injuries from airstrikes, and they will never be returned unless captured Boko Haram members are released by the government. The captor who was holding a gun also said the girls were forcibly converted to Islam and 40 were married to Boko Haram members.
In April 2014, 276 girls were kidnapped from school in Borno State, Nigeria. The kidnappings drew worldwide attention leading to a global #Bring Back our Girls campaign demanding the return of the school girls.
Read more and watch video at BBC Africa.
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