Boko Haram Releases Footage of the Infamous Missing Chibok Girls in Latest Video with New Demands
The 11-Minute Video Shows Approximately 50 of the Remaining 218 Missing Girls
By Michael Ireland, Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net)
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ANS, Aug.18, 2016) –
A new video has emerged from Islamist terror group Boko Haram which
includes footage of the remaining kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls.
According to International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org, the
video shows girls reading a list of demands from the militant Islamist
terror group in exchange for the safe return of those pictured. The
footage first aired on social media where international news media
picked up the story.
In
April 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 teenage girls from a boarding
school in Chibok, Nigeria. Within days following the tragedy, 57 girls
escaped, but 218 remain in captivity.
A
Nigerian vigilante group found and rescued Amina Ali Nkeki and her
infant child on May 17, 2016, wandering near the edge of Sambisa Forest,
according to reports.
The
father of one of the girls has confirmed the identity of his daughter,
Maida Yakubu, in the recently released video. The footage reveals a
masked Boko Haram militant and approximately 50 of the remaining missing
schoolgirls. Using Yakubu as a mouthpiece, the militants demand the
release of other Boko Haram insurgents in exchange for the safe return
of the girls. They appeal to the parents to force the hand of the
Nigerian government in this matter.
ICC
says the video also reportedly depicts dead teenage girls, clips that
analysts speculate could be slain Chibok girls. In the footage, Boko
Haram blames Nigerian airstrikes for causing the casualties, a claim the
Nigerian government has reportedly denied.
ICC
recently reported on the split in leadership of Boko Haram, a crucial
piece in understanding the timing of this video release. This video is
believed to be a power show by Boko Haram's longtime but recently
replaced leader, Abubakar Shekau.
In
a separate report, Morning Star News (www.morningstarnews.org) says a
faction of Boko Haram remaining faithful to former leader Abubakar
Shekau, reportedly released the video via a journalist on Twitter
purporting to show many of the 276 girls kidnapped from a high school in
Chibok, Borno state in April 2014.
Morning
Star News reports that in what appears to be a propaganda video,
apparently made in part to garner funding as the main Boko Haram group
continues to receive foreign financing, one of the girls speaks of their
suffering from aerial bombing as she begs “my people and our parents”
to urge the Nigerian government to release Boko Haram prisoners so the
girls can return to their families.
"We
are not happy living here," Yakubu tells the camera in clips shown on
CNN, "I'm begging our parents to meet the government to release their
people so that we can be released."The video is being seenas another
proof of life.
In
the video, a masked man stands behind dozens of girls. "We want to send
this message first to the parents of these girls for them to know that
these girls are still with us, some of them, and secondly they should
tell the Federal Government of Nigeria, to with immediate effect,
release our imprisoned brothers," the man said. "Some of the girls,
about forty of them with God's permission have been married, some of
them have died as a result of bombing by the infidels." One veiled girl
could be seen holding a baby.
At
the end of the video unidentified bodies could be seen on the ground.
"Military jets have killed some of the girls," said one of the girls,
who was identified by her father, Yakubu Kabu, as his daughter Dorcas.
Yakubu
told reporters in Abuja, "When I heard her voice, I realize(d) she is
my daughter. We are pleading with the government to help...The children
are suffering. Some of them could be very sick."
Boko
Haram has reportedly promised that without the Nigerian government
meeting their list of demands, their parents will never again see them
alive.
Troy
Augustine, ICC's Regional Manager, said, "ICC rejoices that this latest
video shows that at least a number of the kidnapped Chibok girls are
still alive. It brings relief and confidence to Christians, to the
girls' parents, and to the world that these families may be one day
reunited.
“However,
ICC calls on the Nigerian government to redouble their efforts to
secure the girls' safe return. Now, nearly two and a half years on from
the abduction and following multiple videos establishing 'proof of
life,' little has changed to suggest the Nigerian military is getting
any closer to rescuing the girls. We call on all those concerned to
continue to pray for the Chibok girls and their families and to continue
to raise alarm about the urgency of the need to bring back our girls."
Seven Christians Killed in North-Central Nigeria by Boko Haram-backed Muslim Fulani Cattle Herders
Meanwhile,
Muslim Fulani herdsmen, apparently being armed by Islamist terror group
Boko Haram, attacked a predominantly Christian village in north-central
Nigeria on Saturday (Aug. 13), killing seven Christians, sources told
Morning Star News.
Two
weeks after herdsmen attacked a nearby area in Kaduna state, the
assailants attacked Golkofa village in the same state’s Jema’a Local
Government Area on Saturday night, they said.
"The
Christians were killed in their homes," Golkofa resident Sunday Saleh
told Morning Star News. "Some of the victims were shot while others were
cut with machetes."
Saleh
said the seven Christians killed were Thomas Maimasara, 40, and Sabo
Boyi, 25, both cousins of his; Bobo Okocha, 18; Monday Hamza, 24; Waje
Rubutu, 17; Linus, 20; and Julius, 19. The latter five Christians were
members of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in Golkofa, he
said.
Golkofa village is about five kilometers (three miles) from Gada Biyu village, where similar attacks killed 13 people Aug. 1-3.
Saleh
said Nigerian police evacuated the corpses of Saturday’s attack at
about noon on Sunday and took them to Kafanchan General Hospital. The
victims were to be buried on Wednesday (Aug 17).
The
Rev. Dr. Sunday Ibrahim, secretary of the state chapter of the
Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), confirmed the killings in a
phone interview with Morning Star News.
“These
attacks on Christian communities are senseless and uncalled for,” he
said. “Why carry out attacks on communities without provocation? The
Nigerian government needs to stop these killings by these Muslim
herdsmen.”
The chairman of the state chapter of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, Dr. Haruna Usman, told The Daily Trust
newspaper that he was unaware of the attack but noted that herdsmen
injured an area farmer on June 26, and in revenge village youths burned
down a Fulani settlement.
The
Rt. Rev. Timothy Yahaya, Anglican bishop of Kaduna, told Morning Star
News that Christians have been attacked incessantly in the state.
“The
attacks by the herdsmen on Christian communities are not only
condemnable but must be stopped by the Nigerian government,” he said.
“We are tired of these bloody attacks on Christians, not only in Kaduna
state, but also in other parts of the country.”
Morning
Star News explained that Kaduna and Plateau states have been plagued by
such attacks for years, with Fulani leaders making unsubstantiated
claims of cattle rustling by youths among the predominantly Christian
farmers as the pretext for the killings.
In
recent years there are signs that Islamic extremist groups are arming
and/or accompanying Muslim Fulani herdsmen and inciting them in their
tribal and economic conflicts with Christian farmers. The assaults on
unarmed Christians have reached central-eastern states such as Taraba
and Benue, as well as more southern areas.
In Jalingo, Taraba state, Catholic Bishop Charles Hammawa told www.ChurchMilitant.com that
Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, which seeks to impose sharia
(Islamic law) throughout Nigeria, has helped arm Muslim herdsmen against
Christian farmers and drive them out. He called it a new strategy Boko
Haram is employing after losing substantial territory in the past year.
“It
appears to be a strategy to deliberately populate areas with Muslims
and, by the sheer weight of superior numbers, influence political
decision-making in the region,” he said.
Church
leaders say attacks on Christian communities by the herdsmen constitute
a war “by Islam to eliminate Christianity” in Nigeria. Christians make
up 51.3 percent of Nigeria’s population of 158.2 million and live mainly
in the south, while Muslims account for 45 percent and live mainly in
the north.
A
new leader recently took power of Boko Haram, Abu Musab al-Barnawi, who
has reportedly promised to kill more Christians and burn down more
churches.
Please pray:
For
comfort for the abducted girls, and that God would give them hopeFor
their safe release, and for wisdom for those working to free themFor
strength for their parents as they continue to look for the return of
their daughters.For Christian believers in Nigeria as they face attacks
from Boko Haram-backed Fulani herdsmen
Morning Star News. http://morningstarnews.org
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MorningStarNews
For interviews with Troy Augustine, ICC Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org .
Photo
Captions: 1) Footage purportedly showing some of the missing Chibok
schoolgirls.2) A distraught parent points out his daughter in a still
photo from the new video. 3) Armed Fulani herdsmen have recently
attacked Christians. 4) Michael Ireland.
About
the Writer: Michael Ireland is a volunteer internet journalist serving
as Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, as well as an
Ordained Minister who has served with ASSIST Ministries and written for
ASSIST News Service since its beginning in 1989. He has reported for ANS
from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China, and Russia. To
help Michael cover his expenses in bringing news of the Persecuted
Church, log-on to: https://actintl.givingfuel.com/ireland-michael
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