The Boko Haram sect has
accused the Nigerian military of
killing some of the Chibok
schoolgirls in airstrikes carried
out by the Nigerian Air Force
( NAF) . This was as the group
insisted that the abducted
schoolgirls will remain in
captivity, unless the Federal
Government released all its
members in detention .
The demand was made by a
suspected commander of the
sect, who appeared in a video
showing some of the over 200
girls suspected to be the Chibok
schoolgirls , who have remained
in captivity since April 14, 2014,
when they were abducted at the
Government Girls ’ School
Chibok , Borno State. However,
the Federal Government has
reassured the public that it was
doing everything to ensure the
safe return of the girls .
This came as the Defence
Headquarters ( DHQ ) disclosed
yesterday that it was studying
the latest video , with a view to
ascertaining its authenticity or
otherwise.
The video, cited by the SITE
Intelligence Group, was posted
by Ahmad Salkida on YouTube .
Salkida, a Nigerian journalist, is
believed to have good contacts
with Boko Haram . Salkida said
he was given the video by
associates of Abubakar Shekau,
the factional leader of the
terrorist group .
In the latest video, the masked
commander , who is seen
wielding a gun, claimed that
some of the girls were nursing
lifethreatening injuries, while
about 40 have been given out in
marriage .
The fighter, who spoke in
Hausa, vowed that the abducted
girls may never be released,
unless detained fighters, who he
said have been “ in detention for
ages ” are released.
Also in the video, bodies of some
girls suspected to have been
killed during air strikes are seen
on one side . In apparent
demonstration of his
seriousness , the Boko Haram
terrorist was seen in an
interview with a girl who gave
her name as Maida Yakubu.
The schoolgirl called on parents
to appeal to the Federal
Government to accede to the
request to free detained fighters,
for their (the Chibok girls ’)
rescue . While another girl was
seen holding a baby, others
were seen weeping , ostensibly to
hasten government ’ s concession .
Part of the translation reads : “ 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 40 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 .” Continuing he
said : “ 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. ”
The gunman then called a girl
out and interrogated her . Sect
commander : What is your
name ? Girl: My name is Maida
Yakubu Sect commander : Where
are you from? Girl : I am from
Chibok town Sect commander :
Where were you picked from?
Girl: School Sect commander :
What is the name of the school?
Girl: GSS Chibok Sect
commander : For how long have
you been here ? Girl : About two
years Sect commander : What
message do you have for your
parents and the Federal
Government of Nigeria? Girl :
“ Our parents, please exercise
patience. We are suffering here .
There is no kind of suffering we
haven’ t seen . Our sisters are
injured; some have wounds on
their heads and bodies. “ Tell the
government to give them their
people so we can also come to
be with you. We are all children
and we don’t know what to do.
The suffering is too much, please
endeavour as we also have
exercised patience.“ There is
nothing you, or we, can do
about this, but to get their
people back to them, so we can
go home. Exercise patience as
we also have endured. ”
The sect commander took over
and continued: “ 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
journalists 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. ”
In Abuja , Maida ’s mother, Mrs.
Esther Yakubu, watched the
video along with her husband at
the weekly rally of the Bring
Back Our Girls campaign at
Unity Fountain . But , the Federal
Government yesterday
reiterated its determination to
rescue the girls .
The Minister of Information and
Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed ,
in a statement, said the
government was being careful in
its rescue operation, in order
not to harm the abducted girls
in the process. The minister said
that the government was in
touch with those purportedly
behind the video.
The minister , in a statement by
his Special Adviser, Mr. Segun
Adeyemi, said : “ We are on top
of the situation. But we are
being extremely careful because
the situation has been
compounded by the split in the
leadership of Boko Haram .
We are also being guided by the
need to ensure the safety of the
girls . ” Since this is not the first
time we have been contacted
over the issue, we want to be
doubly sure that those we are in
touch with are who they claim
to be, ” Mohammed expressed
the hope that the latest
development will signal the
beginning of the end of the
nightmare to which the girls ,
their families and, indeed , all
Nigerians have been subjected
since the unfortunate abduction.
In the same light , the Defence
Headquarters ( DHQ ) has said it
had begun a probe of the video,
which will include an analysis of
the voice of the fighter.
The DHQ , in a statement by its
spokesman, Brig .- Gen. Rabe
Abubakar, said : “ Currently we
are studying the video clips to
verify its authenticity and
analysing the comments of the
speakers in the video , especially
the terrorist member and the
girl that spoke in mother
tongue .
“ It is extremely difficult and
rare to hit innocent people
during airstrike because the
operation is done through
precision attack on identified
and registered targets and
locations . “ The precision
airstrike is very effective at
taking out targeted enemies
because it is not a random
operation.
We are , nevertheless , studying
the video clips to examine if the
victims died from other causes
rather than from the allegation
of airstrike. ” It will be recalled
that less than two weeks ago ,
Boko Haram ’s leader , Abubakar
Shekau, had appeared in a
video , where he threatened to
attack President Muhammadu
Buhari .
posted by: TAGED
